The Other
by IdiotWithaBoxandaScrewdriver
Summary: The Patch have a secret. A secret weapon to be used against Hao if all else fails. That was her destiny, her reason for existence, to destroy the one they called Devil. But, she has her own ideas and is about to take fate into her own hands.
1. Chapter 1

Wolf: Hey there all! Brand-spanking new story, and a brand-spanking new OC! I hope you'll like her as much as I've come to like her. Well, I own nothing but my OC and the plot, so let's get to it!

Nearly two months after the Shaman King tournament was halted after Hao's unorthodox attempt to steal the Great Spirit, it was back on again. Everyone who had made it to the second round the first time was allowed to come back. The Patch had beefed up security around the Great Spirit and the air was thick with tension. Would _he _return?

The shamans all gathered in the stadium, their families and friends not in the fight crowding the stands, waiting, watching. A cheerful hubbub of sound wafted up through the air, up to the figure standing on the highest tier of the stadium.

The figure wasn't much to look at, and so high up that all one would see if they looked was the hooded, hand-made cream cloak billowing in the light wind. The cloak was edged with colour and an eagle design in the middle of it. The hood hid the figure's face from anyone looking as they stared down at the stadium floor far below, watching, waiting.

"You shouldn't be here." Silva said, stepping lightly up to the figure. The head turned and sunlight threw the face of the figure into relief. At first glance the young woman could have been mistaken for Hao. However, subtle details gave her features a more feminine look; long dark lashes, higher cheekbones, fuller lips set into native-born tan skin separated her from Hao.

"They won't notice me up here." The girl scoffed, her sharp black eyes amused. "People don't notice what's right in front of their faces."

"I'm not worried about the participants seeing you, but if one of the other officials sees you out here there will be hell to pay." Silva warned. The girl let out a rude noise, an obvious opinion on what she thought of the other officials. "That's not fair Lukka, you know why they do what they do."

"Does it make it right?" She demanded. Silva was saved from answering though by the sound of silence. A silence so thick you could almost taste it filled the air and with it the tensions rose to an unbearable level. Lukka looked down on the stadium, seeing the milling figures that looked so like ants from this high up stilled, shocked.

"He's here." She said, no uncertainty in her voice. There was only one man who's simple presence would be able to create such a heavy, burning silence. "Hao Asakura."

"Yes." Silva whispered, disappointment in his voice. Lukka's soft, full lips pressed into a thin line as she looked down at the stadium.

"We knew he wasn't dead." She finally said. "The divinations told us that." Silva swallowed thickly and nodded. Lukka took a step down, heading down the stairs.

"Lukka, stop!" Silva cried, running up and grabbing Lukka by the shoulder. "What are you doing?" Lukka blinked up at him, trying to look innocent.

"I want to see him up close."

"You've seen him in pictures." Silva reminded her.

"It's not the same." She insisted, pushing her bottom lip out into a pout while simultaneously widening her sharp eyes. Silva shook his head at her, not impressed by her little display.

"You need to go home, now." He ordered and Lukka's brows furrowed together in frustration.

"I'm not a child anymore." She snapped at him.

"No you're not, you're almost sixteen in fact." Silva agreed. He leaned down and gently grasped Lukka's shoulders, staring into her eyes. "Which means that you need to act responsible, like the young woman that you are. I'm asking you, please, go back home."

Her intense dark eyes softened as she looked up into his worried face and slowly she nodded. He smiled and hugged her lightly, patting her on her hooded head. She smiled back at the only man she ever really smiled for anymore, stepped back and vanished from the stadium.

She reappeared just outside. She could hear the chatter beginning to pick up again from inside and for a moment entertained the notion of running in, revealing herself to the world. That'd give Goldva a heart attack for sure.

Her eyes travelled up and she saw the figure standing atop the stadium walls. She couldn't see it, but she could imagine the look on Silva's face and decided that he didn't deserve to be tortured by her anymore today. She waved at him, rewarded by a quick wave back, and then turned on her heel to walk down the quiet, dusty street.

She could have just teleported herself to the secret other half of the village, the one where those members of the Patch that could not fend for themselves were housed, but she liked the walk, and there was no one around for now, not until Goldva was done going over the rules again and wishing everyone luck.

How were the rest of the Patch reacting to Hao's presence? She was sure they all felt disappointed, angry, but none of them could do anything, not while the supposed 'code of neutrality' was in effect. She managed a short, derisive laugh at the thought. If that were truly so, well...

She could go back there, make a scene. It was very tempting to do so after so many frustrating years of being hidden away. But, then there was Silva, and he'd asked her so nicely to go. Silva was the one Patch that she would willingly do anything for. Why?

Perhaps it was because he didn't treat her like the rest of the village. To them she was something dangerous that could turn on them in a second, to him, she was just another teenage girl. It might have been that, but it also might have been that they were in fact family, siblings.

Silva was much older than she was, he was almost thirty, he would be in September and she was almost sixteen. She often teased him about his upcoming birthday, telling him that she was starting to see grey hairs. He would always retort that it was she who put them there. She trusted him, more than she trusted anyone, but if it came down to choosing between his duty to the Patch and his love for her, she didn't know what he'd choose.

She sighed, removing her hood and shaking out her long chestnut hair. She'd never cut it, aside from trimming away the split ends from time to time and it flowed down her back to her waist. She removed the heavy cloak, revealing a body lean and muscular with small, round breasts and narrow, rounded hips. She wore a tank top and a pair of soft trousers rolled up to her knees in defiance of the traditional Patch dress. Her feet were bare, the soles tough, the ankles dusty.

From the outside she looked like a regular teenage girl, about 5'6'' and skinny, growing into her body. Her charcoal black eyes were unusually serious and cynical for a nearly-sixteen year old, and her muscular frame spoke of months and years of training. The frown turning down her plush lips hinted at a deep stubbornness.

She was different. She had known this fact from the time that she could understand what the word meant, and perhaps even before then. She was a Patch but she was treated as an outsider. When she was young she was shunned by the children. They were too scared to want her to join in their play and too scared of her to tell her she couldn't.

Not like she had ever had time for play. Not when she was drilled day after day, taught, trained, groomed for a 'great destiny'. No one had ever asked if she had wanted this destiny, but it was hers all the same, the reason she existed. The reason she was ostracized by her own people, the reason she was feared as much as Hao.

Why?

...Because she was Hao too.

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Wolf: Whooo! I am mean leaving it there! What do you all think?


	2. Chapter 2

Wolf: I own nothing!

Yoh didn't know how to feel about his brother being alive still. One part of him was terrified, knowing Hao would not allow Yoh's defeat of him to go unpunished. One part of him was dismayed, knowing that he had failed to stop Hao. And then, one part of him was relieved, relieved that he had not killed his brother.

He had always known Hao was still alive. Call it twin telepathy, or divine intuition, but he just knew that Hao was still out there, biding his time. Still, he fretted, distressed that he'd been driven to so final a solution. He was no killer, and he didn't believe that death was the only solution to stopping Hao from destroying humanity. If only he'd had a little more time and more access to Hao...

There wasn't any use in thinking about 'what ifs'. He would only drive himself crazy if he thought too much about that. But, now he had the problem of everyone expecting him to kill Hao, again. He didn't want that, he didn't want to be the one to do that, he didn't want this destiny!

Anna seemed to take Yoh's failure personally, and the first thing she had done when they got settled into Patch village after the introductory speech was to double his training, effective immediately. The weights on his wrists and ankles were doubled and he was forced outside to run laps in the burning heat.

Sweat poured down his back as he ran, the only sound his shoes slapping against the ground and his harsh, panting breaths. He felt ill in the heat, dizzy and nauseous. He wanted to stop, but the thought of his fiancé's wrath kept him from doing so. His vision started to blur, even when he blinked his vision didn't clear, it got worse until the entire world turned grey and slid out from under him...

The next thing he knew was that there was a hand pressing against his lips, trickling water into his mouth. He opened his eyes, gasping in surprise. "Steady, Yoh. You don't want to move too fast just yet." A warm, female voice told him. He turned his head to find a figure, cloaked and hooded in the dress of the Patch, watching him.

"Who are you?" He asked. She, he thought it was a she, tilted her hooded head at him. He could just about feel her smiling.

"Just a friend." She replied. "You should rest a bit before trying to continue. Better not to continue at all in this heat, you'll work yourself to death."

"Then Anna would have succeeded in her goal." Yoh said with a mirthlessly, self-deprecating laugh. "Thank you for the water, miss." He said with a bow, standing awkwardly and slowly jogging away. He looked back once, but the cloaked woman was already gone. He shook his head, clearing it a little more, wondering who she was.

"Hey dude, what took you so long?" Horohoro asked as he stepped into the cafe for breakfast.

"I collapsed in the heat for a couple minutes." Yoh admitted sheepishly.

"I'm not surprised, considering the heat." Ren replied with a sniff. "Someone should tell that devil of a fiancé of yours that if she wants to keep you alive she should have some consideration for your health."

"Huh, that'd be the day." Yoh mumbled. He looked up as Silva placed a stack of pancakes in front of all of them. "Hey, Silva. I have a question."

"Sure." Silva smiled and waited.

"I met this Patch girl earlier, she got me water when I'd collapsed in the heat. Thing was she was wearing this cloak and wouldn't tell me her name. Do you know who she is?" Silva shrugged nonchalantly.

"It could have been any of our women. A lot of them are shy and they're also wary of all of you shamans." He chuckled.

"Well, if you figure out who it was can you tell her I said thanks again?" Yoh asked. Silva nodded and headed back into the kitchen, growling softly to himself. He had a feeling he knew exactly who Yoh had seen.

%&%&%&%

Lukka was reading in her room, one of her favourite pastimes. She had a massive bookshelf just stuffed with books of every size and genre, except for sappy romances, she hated those. Every inch of wall was covered in posters from various adventure, action and sci-fi movies and several from rock bands. Her bed had an old Star Wars comforter and an old, well-loved blue dragon plushie perched upon her pillow.

"Lukka, what did you do today?" Lukka looked up, blinking innocently at her brother.

"What do you mean?" She asked in a sweet tone that Silva had learned long ago not to trust.

"You talked to Yoh today." He said in a disapproving tone that made her give him an exaggerated eye roll.

"I helped him out when I saw him collapse in the heat. I swear that bitch of his is trying to kill him." Lukka snorted. "I didn't let him see my face, and he doesn't know my name."

"What were you doing out there anyways?" Silva asked. "You know that you're not supposed to leave the village while there are other shamans around."

"Oh please, Silva. It's not like this is the first time I've snuck out somewhere and you know it!" Lukka told him. "The first time I snuck out it was with your help."

"That was to go into town, not near other shamans." Silva protested. "It's not the same."

"I'm not made of glass, brother, I can take care of myself." Lukka pointed out.

"I know that, but we don't want Hao finding out about you, what you are." Silva said in a gentler tone, sitting down on her bed.

"You mean that I'm his clone created to destroy him if all else fails?" Lukka clarified, biting at one of her fingernails, her nervous habit. Silva nodded soberly. Lukka had been created out of the Patch-Hao's DNA, modified to be female, and born as the last resort to prevent Hao from destroying humanity. She was as powerful as he and for that reason the Patch regarded her as both an angel and a demon. Silva was the only one that treated with any sort of affection.

"I just don't want to see you get killed by him once he knows that." Silva sighed. Lukka knew that to be the truth and she hugged him gratefully.

"I'm so tired of waiting." Lukka murmured into his cloak. "I sometimes think about marching out there to confront Hao, just to get it over with."

"But you won't, will you?" Lukka smiled at the worried tone of voice.

"Not yet." She sighed. Silva ruffled her hair, ignoring her cry of protest and chuckling as she scrambled to brush it back in place.

"I have to go." He said reluctantly. Lukka sighed heavily.

"I'm so lonely here, brother." She said dejectedly. "The only person I can talk to is you, and you're gone so often now that the tournament is on." It was times like this, when Lukka looked so despondent, that Silva wondered if Hao ever got lonely too. Perhaps it was a bad thing to think of, giving him humanity would make it hard to do what needed to be done, but he couldn't help it sometimes.

"I know." He whispered. "Tell you what, we'll sneak out tonight and go skinny-dipping in the water hole." Lukka grinned, sticking her tongue between her teeth in an impish look.

"You're not going to forbid me from sneaking out again?" She asked as he headed for the door.

"No, because I know you wouldn't listen." He told her, giving her a wry look. She poked her tongue out at him. He paused as he got to the door. "Yoh Asakura is a good kid." He said, almost as an afterthought, but Lukka didn't miss the little wink he gave her as he did so.

"Smooth, big brother, smooth." She murmured when he'd left, shaking her head. She waited a few moments and then set down her book, marking her page for later. She went to the window, picking her cloak off the chair that she'd left it on, and vaulted out the window and onto the ground below without a sound.

She padded through the hidden valley that held the Patch village never seen by outsiders' eyes. It was well-concealed to keep the women and children safe. She headed up the natural 'staircase' in the cliff-side that the village had been carved out of. Up top she spared a moment to look over at the Great Spirit, glowing brightly even in the middle of the day.

She wandered for awhile and then found herself hidden on the roof of one of the shops in the 'open village' where all the other shamans were allowed to meet. Yoh and his friends were having lunch together. She watched him for a long while, like so many other times, noting again the gentle smile and calm demeanour. A crazy, wonderful plan began to form in her mind.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	3. Chapter 3

Wolf: What is with people and leaving reviews just to tell me they don't like Ocs? I'm sorry, but if you don't like them, go away! Don't accuse me of creating a Mary Sue when I work hard to create a complicated, flawed character. I hate Mary Sues too you know! Ever heard of CONSTRUCTIVE criticism? (sigh) I think I need some cookies now, I feel all out of sorts. I own nothing, enjoy.

Yoh walked slowly through the village, meandering aimlessly. The right side of his face throbbed in pain. He'd run into Marco a couple minutes and the irate X-Law captain had some words with him before punching him in the face. He was sure his face was turning purple, but there wasn't much he could do about it.

He found himself just outside the village, where he'd collapsed a day earlier. He looked around and then mentally smacked himself for thinking the girl from yesterday was going to be there again. He sighed and turned to go back into the village. As he did so, he realized that Hao was standing behind him.

"What are you doing here?" Yoh couldn't stop the probably foolish question from escaping, he was just too startled to find his brother there.

"I could ask you the same question." Hao replied with his trademark smirk plastered across his face. "Nice face." Yoh touched his cheek, wincing as he did so.

"Marco had a problem with me. Seems to think I didn't kill you on purpose." Yoh explained.

"Hmph, fool." Yoh wasn't entirely sure if Hao was talking about him or Marco. "So what are you doing out here?"

"I was just looking for someone." Yoh replied. Hao raised an eyebrow. "I don't know who she is, she helped me out yesterday, but I couldn't see her face. I was hoping I would be able to find her again to thank her properly."

"You are a strange creature." Hao said, shaking his head. He advanced on Yoh, his eyes narrowing in a scary way. "Now, the question is, what to do about you?"

"I don't know what you mean," Yoh said, although he was sure he knew exactly what Hao was talking about. He could feel Hao probing at his mind, bouncing off the careful barriers that Yoh had constructed for exactly that reason.

"You know exactly what I mean." Hao said, looking mildly annoyed at being unable to read his brother's mind. "What do I do about you having the audacity to kill me?"

"I'm no use to you dead." Yoh reminded him with more bravado than he really felt.

"True…" Hao mused. "I'll have to find something else." Yoh was about to walk away when he paused, wondering if he should say the words that he wanted to say. He finally decided that he needed to say them.

"I'm glad that I didn't kill you Hao." He told his brother. For a moment a confused look flickered across the elder's face before the sharp face settled back into ambiguity. Yoh turned his back and began to walk away; tense with the fear that Hao would try and do something. But nothing happened and when Yoh snuck a glance behind him Hao had gone.

He walked out into the forest that crowded the edges of the valley. He strolled off the path and headed for a patch of prickle bushes. Sliding along the rock wall he emerged from the thorny bushes into a small clearing that was hemmed on three sides by insurmountable rock and on the last by the prickle bushes. No one could get in unless they knew the way. He'd come across it by chance the first time the tournament had gone down. It was his peaceful place.

He sat down by the spring, settling down to meditate. He suddenly frowned, something felt different about the clearing today. It felt like… like there was someone else there. He stood up and looked around, but all there was to see were the rocks and trees and prickles. Still, he got that uneasy feeling he was being watched.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" He called. He didn't get an answer but he felt a sensation like someone trying to get into his mind, just like when Hao tried to do it. "Hao? Is that you?" A faint chuckle reached his ears and he jerked in surprise as a cloaked figure jumped down from one of the trees. His eyes widened as he recognized the woman from before. "It's you!"

"Me." The woman said, tilting her head slightly. "It's nice to see you again Yoh."

"How do you know my name?" She sat down beside him, but all she could see of her face was her lips, which were curled upwards in a slight smile.

"I know many things." She said in a distinctly teasing tone.

"Who are you?" Yoh asked pleadingly.

"Hmm, secrets, secrets…" She sighed. "You're not supposed to know."

"Then why are you talking to me?" Yoh asked. He watched her lips purse thoughtfully. "You don't have to tell me, I know you must be wondering why you should trust me, right?" Slowly she smiled at him.

"See, that is exactly the reason I think I should trust you." She replied. "That and I've spent some time watching you. You're a rare person, Yoh Asakura."

"Uh, thank you." The girl moved closer to him and he could just feel her eyes boring into his.

"If I do tell you who I am you have to promise me that you will never tell anyone, ever!" She told him fiercely. "Can you promise me that?"

Yoh bit his lip. He was so curious about this girl. He wanted to know who she was, and if that meant keeping secrets, he could deal with that.

"Yes, I promise I will tell no one about you." Yoh said. She smiled at him and then took off her hood. Yoh's first thought was _My god, she looks exactly like Hao!_ But as he stared at her he realized that she looked much more feminine than Hao and was tan-skinned. She watched him with a wary expression, perhaps worried about what he was thinking.

"What's your name?" He asked finally.

"I'm Lukka." She replied.

"Isn't… isn't that commonly a boy's name?" Lukka grimaced. "I guess you knew that already."

"Yeah, they weren't thinking much when they named me." She said with a sarcastic twist of her mouth. "Silva's my big brother by the way."

"Really? Wait, how old are you?" Yoh asked, blinking in surprise.

"I'll be sixteen in May." Lukka answered, giggling slightly.

"Was one of you a surprise or something?" Yoh asked, and then clamped a hand over his mouth, blushing.

"Well, no actually." Lukka replied. "Which is pretty surprising when you think about it." Yoh nodded in agreement. "What happened to your face?" She asked, reaching out with a slim hand to cup his chin, turning his bruised cheek towards her.

"Uh, Marco did that." Yoh stammered, blushing at the feel of her warm hand against his face. She smirked at him slightly, though her eyes remained friendly.

"Don't often get a pretty girl touching you, do you?" She ribbed him, chuckling slightly.

"Well, my fiancé would kill me if she found out another woman was near me."

"Ahh, the jealous type."

"A little." Yoh shrugged. "I didn't think anyone else knew about this place." Lukka shrugged back at him.

"I found it a few years back." She said. "None of the other Patch know about it but me, so I can come here when I want to be alone."

"Do you want me to leave then?" Yoh asked nervously. Lukka shook her head.

"I just need to get away from the tribe sometimes." She said. "I don't mind having someone new to talk to."

"You don't know anyone outside the Patch?"

"Only the officials really have contact with the outside world." Lukka explained, brushing her bangs out of her eyes.

"Oh, I didn't know that." Yoh looked up at the sky and then sighed. "I should go, they'll be wondering where I am." He stood up. "Will you be here again?"

"I always come here, so chances are we'll run into each other again." Lukka said, standing up as well. As he walked out of the valley he heard her voice call out behind him. "Remember, tell no one!"

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Wolf: Apologies for the earlier rant, I'm not looking for sympathy, really, but I just needed to rant to someone about this. I'm just so sick of getting reviews like that with people just complaining about the ocs without giving me any reason why other than they're ocs. Anyways, please review, they are much appreciated.


	4. Chapter 4

Wolf: Thank you for all your encouragement. I seriously think I'm far too sensitive sometimes. Anyways, I don't own anything but the plot and my dear little OC, so let's get on with it.

Hao walked along the streets of Patch village, revelling in the whispers of awe and fear that followed him as he passed. He knew from their thoughts that they were frightened of the man that seemed to have come back from the dead. At least one good thing had come out of his idiot brother's attempt to kill him; he was viewed as little less than a god by most of the shamans here now.

There wasn't anything going on yet, the fights had not started up again. There were several orders of business that the Patch had to attend to, first and foremost testing those new shamans that had been added to teams who had lost members. That headache would likely take a couple weeks to sort out, in the meantime, the rest of the shamans had little to do but wait.

As he walked along he casually noticed Yoh and his friends sitting in one of the village's many restaurants, having a late lunch. Yoh's friends got up to leave, but Yoh stayed where he was, waving off his friends' questions with a assuring, though somewhat distracted-looking smile. It was odd that Yoh would stay behind while his friends were off somewhere else, so Hao decided to do some investigating.

He entered the shop, feeling silence fall at his presence. Yoh however, didn't notice he was there until Hao slid into the seat across from him. Yoh jerked in surprise, nearly spilling his glass, but catching it swiftly. Hao thought that Yoh's reflexes had improved once again.

"What are you doing here?" Yoh asked, looking at Hao wide-eyed. Hao smirked as Yoh wiped droplets of orange juice off his wrist.

"It's rare to find you without your merry little band of morons," His smirk got wider at the reproachful look Yoh gave him. "And I thought I'd investigate." He raised an eyebrow at Yoh, asking a question without even saying a word.

"I just wanted some time to think." Yoh said, resting his elbows on the table, clasping his hands together and settling his chin onto them. Hao's eyes flicked to the hands, scarred, calloused and bruised from training. His by contrast were unblemished and immaculately clean. No point in looking like a slob, right?

"Somehow I have serious doubts about you having any deep thoughts." He told his brother condescendingly. "So, what are you thinking about?"

"Nothing that concerns you." Yoh said, keeping his face smooth and emotionless. Hao's eyebrow jumped slightly in annoyance at Yoh's refusal to tell him anything. Yoh was keeping secrets from him; that was not allowed.

"You're not allowed to keep secrets from me." He hissed. Yoh turned to him and Hao was startled to see defiant anger in his eyes.

"I'm my own person Hao, I am allowed to have my privacy." He stated calmly, though there was the faint note of a warning in his voice. Hao felt outraged, but didn't allow it to show in his face. "Have a good day Hao." Yoh said, standing up and bringing his now empty glass up to the counter to be washed. Hao watched Yoh as he left the restaurant, deeply annoyed by Yoh's continued rejection of him.

%&%&%&%

Yoh headed straight to his little 'quiet-place', wondering if Lukka would be there again today. He was insanely curious about who she was and wondered about the secrecy around her.

"Lukka?" He called as he stepped into the clearing, seeing no one in sight. He was about to let out a sigh of disappointment when a lithe, cloaked shape dropped out of the trees, landing right in front of him. Yoh yelped and fell back. Lukka began to laugh, a big, boisterous sound that was pure mischief.

"Got ya!" She cried, and then leaned down to help him back up. "I wasn't sure if you'd come back today."

"I wasn't sure if you were going to be here." Yoh admitted. They both shared a chuckle about their fears and went to sit down by the spring.

"Problems?" Lukka asked, seeing the stressed look on Yoh's face.

"Only the biggest problem I've had since the Shaman King tournament started." Yoh replied.

"Hao." Lukka guessed. Yoh nodded glumly. "Insane, powerful shaman who hates all of humanity, I can see why he's a problem." Yoh laughed slightly at her dry tone of voice.

"I just wish I understood why he hated them so much." He said.

"Does he need a reason?" Lukka asked.

"Hate is almost always personal." Yoh replied. "If I could just figure out what triggered Hao's hatred, maybe I can reverse it."

"Ha!" Yoh blinked at the mocking tone of Lukka's short laugh.

"What does that mean?" He asked indignantly.

"A tiger cannot exchange its stripes for spots." Lukka replied.

"Perhaps someone can't change what they are." Yoh agreed. "Like I can't change that I'm an Asakura by blood, and you can't change that you're a Patch by blood." He blinked as the oddest expression crossed her face, but shook it off, continuing. "But I'm not trying to change what Hao is, but rather who he is."

"I'm not sure I understand." Lukka said.

"Who we are is constantly changing, you're not the same person you were a couple years ago I'm sure, and neither am I. Our souls evolve and change as we go on in life. My goal is to make a change in Hao's soul, help him work past his hate."

"You really think you can do that?" Lukka asked.

"I was able to get Ren past his hate." Yoh said. "Why not Hao?"

"Hao's also had a thousand years to build up his hatred, and he's also kind of messed up in the head." Lukka replied. "I looked in there once." She shuddered. "Never again."

"I can imagine." Yoh said, remembering the look of unrestrained madness in Hao's eyes when they'd last fought. He had excellent control, but Yoh feared if Hao let that control of that mindless, crazy rage ever took over again. "I have to try to get through to him though, because if I can't... the only option would be to kill him."

"And you don't want to have to do that." Lukka said softly in surprise. Yoh looked at her, eyes tormented.

"He's my brother, no matter what he's done, that's still true, and who wants to kill their own brother?" he whispered. "And besides that, all that happens if he dies is that he'll come back next time around, more powerful and angrier than before."

"Strange..." Lukka mused. "Most of the talk I hear about you being so clueless, or brainless, and yet you have thought up a solution no one in history has yet even dreamed of. Redemption instead of damnation."

"Yeah..." Yoh looked up at the sky.

"You're a surprising person Yoh Asakura." Lukka stated quietly, sliding closer to him and looping an arm around his shoulder. Yoh blushed slightly at her closeness, making her chortle softly. "And cute too." Yoh's blush intensified at that. Anna never referred to him as good looking, in fact she often said he looked like a buffoon. As he sat there he suddenly remembered something he had wanted to ask Lukka.

"Hey Lukka, this might be a stupid question but... can you read minds?" Yoh asked. Lukka gazed at him for a long moment with those intense black eyes.

"Yes I can, but not your mind, you've blocked me." She said. "Some kind of barrier, right? Like a shield around your mind?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"The Patch use the same principle, and I do the same, but to keep other people's thoughts from entering my mind." Lukka explained. "It would be maddening to have to listen to their innermost thoughts every second of every day. So, I block them, and I can choose to let down those blocks if I feel I want to get a better idea about a person."

"Huh, do you think Hao knows how to do that?" Yoh asked.

"Nope. His mind is as open as the sky on a bright sunny day." Lukka revealed. "I think he'd be a little less crazy if he could put a lid on the thoughts coming into his head."

"You might be right about that." Yoh mused. "I'll see if I can suggest it to him some time." He looked up at the sun and sighed. "I should probably get going again, they'll wonder..."

"I understand." Lukka said. "They don't like it when I'm gone too long from the village, so I'd be returning soon anyways." Yoh stood up and headed to the pathway out of the clearing. "Yoh, do you really think that Hao can be saved?" Yoh turned and smiled at her.

"Once upon a time he was a good man, who helped people. I'll be damned if I didn't believe that I could bring that man back."

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Wolf: Review plz!


	5. Chapter 5

Wolf: I own nothing!

Lukka sat in her room, her eyes were on her book but they weren't seeing the words on the page. She was thinking about what Yoh had said to her, his idea of redeeming Hao. She had her doubts about whether or not Hao could be changed, but all those doubts were tempered by the image of Yoh's kind, but stubborn face. If anyone could do it, it would be Yoh.

She giggled at the thought of Yoh. She loved to make him blush, because he was just too cute when he did, not that he wasn't cute all the time. He also seemed pretty wise for an almost-sixteen year old, wiser than some of the teenagers she'd met or watched, including some of his friends. He was a rare young man, more inclined to think on his actions than allow impulse to rule him, and respectful where many his age were rude and thoughtless.

She was so deep in her thoughts that she did not notice her brother come in until Silva sat down on the bed, making the mattress dip slightly with his weight. She looked up at him in surprise.

"You seem to be thinking hard about something." Silva smiled. She smiled back, but didn't think Silva would quite understand her thoughts at the moment. She decided to find out Silva's opinion on the whole subject of Hao.

"I was wondering... do you really believe that killing Hao is the only way to stop his plans?" Lukka asked, shaking hair out of her eyes to stare directly at Silva. Silva shrugged his shoulders.

"What other way is there?" He asked in return, making Lukka click her tongue in annoyance.

"That's not an answer." She said peevishly.

"It's the only answer I have." Silva replied.

"But doesn't he just come back, more powerful than before? How is that a helpful solution?" Lukka demanded. Silva reached out to pat her on the head.

"Don't go worrying yourself about such things." He advised. "You'll only make yourself crazy."

"But, big brother, if Hao needs to die, and I'm for all intents and purposes, Hao, what happens to me after he is killed?" Lukka whispered suddenly, wrapping her arms around her knees, drawing them up to her chest and looking up at him through a curtain of bangs, aching worry in her eyes.

Silva hesitated, and in that hesitation Lukka sensed his internal struggle. Should he lie to her and ease her worry? Or should he tell the truth and only add to her anxiety? Lukka dearly hoped he wouldn't lie to her, she hated being lied to and she would be very mad at him if he tried.

"I don't know." He shook his head when Lukka shot him an annoyed look. "I really don't. I don't know if they have an actual idea of what they'll do with you, or if they're just keeping it from me because I'm so close to you, but I just don't know."

Lukka moved over to him and wrapped her arms around him in a hug, nuzzling against his chest. As always, the feel of his arms around her made her feel safe, protected. She was too afraid to ask her other question; what would he do if they did decide she needed to die? She was afraid of how he would react, afraid of his possible answers.

So she simply allowed herself to enjoy their embrace, to be comforted by her older brother in the only way he knew how. All too soon she had to give up her moment of peace with her brother to allow him to get back to work.

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Hao walked when he had something on his mind, he felt the cadence of his steps and the rhythmic motions helped him think. He was walking now, thinking about his brother, no, seething over his brother, in particular the boy's recent inclination to hold secrets that even he could not find out. He didn't like it, not one bit.

As he walked along he became aware of a sound like the high-pitched shriek of some small animal. Cocking his head to one side he paused, and realized that it was not an animal, but a voice, a familiar one. He moved to one of the buildings and peered around it to see Anna berating Yoh, a very familiar scene indeed.

"-wandering off to who-knows-where at random hours of the day when you're supposed to be training!" Anna yelled at Yoh, who was leaning against a support of the overhang.

"I only disappear after my training is done, Anna." Yoh replied in a quiet, respectful tone. "I need to be alone to meditate, think."

"You, think?" Anna let out a cruel, derisive laugh. "I'm the only one with brains in this relationship. Without me, you wouldn't last a day." Hao turned away, already bored with this until he heard Yoh mumble something inaudibly and then a sharp smack. "You're training's doubled for tomorrow."

Hao heard Anna's footsteps walking away, but didn't hear Yoh's. He peered around the corner to see Yoh with his face slightly to the side and down, a vivid red mark in the shape of Anna's hand imprinted on his face.

Hao had once considered Anna to be the perfect fit for his Shaman Queen, because she was determined and not intimidated by him, but he had quickly retracted that opinion after watching her for a short time. She was selfish, power-hungry and rude to pretty much anyone she met. She would make his life a misery, as she seemed to be making his brother's.

"I know you're watching me, come on out." Yoh's dull voice startled him. "It's not befitting the 'Shaman King' to be skulking about."

Hao turned around the corner, scowling slightly at Yoh, who just stared back at him with an unreadable expression. "I was hardly skulking."

"You were hiding behind the wall instead of making your presence known, I call that skulking." Yoh replied benignly. Hao's scowl grew darker. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough." Hao replied. Yoh sighed and closed his eyes, looking as though he were battling a headache, which would make sense, knowing how hard Anna could slap. "Why don't you ever fight back?" The question popped out of his mouth before he could stop it, surprising him. Yoh gave him an odd look.

"It's not worth the amount of pain, not right now, anyways." Yoh replied. "I do have to live with her the rest of my life, for however long that might be." Yoh's voice was dismal, so strangely at odds with his normal cheerful demeanour that Hao was mildly confused and attempted to look into his mind, only to be blocked once again. "Stop that, you won't get in." Yoh told him.

"How exactly do you do that?" Hao asked, leaning against the wall of the building, staring at Yoh. Yoh shrugged his shoulders.

"I just make a barrier around my mind, like a shield, to keep someone from looking into my head." He explained. "It wasn't really hard to do, just hard to keep it going for long periods of time at first."

"So even someone as lack-witted as you can do it." Hao said. Yoh flinched slightly in response. The gesture confused Hao, who had seen that Yoh could take a hit and not even cringe even if it cracked or broke something, but a single harsh word acted like a knife thrust to the heart.

"I might not be the quickest person on earth, but I'm not stupid." Yoh murmured. "And I understand the things that are important." Yoh absently reached up to adjust the headphones on his head. "I wonder if the blocking mechanism would work the opposite way." He mused.

"What way?" Hao asked.

"Well, if it can prevent someone from reading your mind, couldn't it prevent someone from having to read another person's thoughts?" Yoh hypothesized. "You should try it."

"And why would I want to do that?" Hao said in a mocking tone.

"It can't be pleasant being bombarded by everyone's thoughts at all hours of the day." Yoh replied. Hao was silent, but he actually agreed with Yoh about that at least. It was unpleasant, and he was teetering on the brink of sanity because of it. Come to think about it, the silence surrounding Yoh's mind was actually kind of... peaceful, inviting.

"I don't need your help." He snarled, angry that Yoh seemed to be drawing him in, as he had done with so many other people.

"Everyone needs help sometimes, Hao." Yoh responded, apparently unconcerned by Hao's ire. "I should get going." He sighed regretfully. Yoh pushed himself off of the support and started walking. "I'll see you around, Hao."

Hao didn't answer, and he waited until Yoh was gone from sight before moving. His thoughtful walk had given him no peace at all, in fact he seemed to have added new troubles onto the ones already there. Why the hell was Yoh trying to help him anyways?

It had to be a trick, a joke of some kind, and he wasn't going to follow it. Although... the idea did make sense, and if it worked he would be offered some peace and quiet for the first time in a thousand years. He shook his head, angry at himself for even considering his brother's advice. He set out down the path again, muttering darkly about younger brothers and their stupidity.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	6. Chapter 6

Wolf: I own nothing!

"I'm sorry I haven't been here the last few days." Yoh looked up from staring in the pool, seeing Lukka's worried face hovering over him. "You're not upset, are you?"

"No, I figured you had a good reason to be gone." He watched her face relax into a relieved expression.

"That's good. I thought that maybe..." her breath hitched a little and she looked down, playing with the edge of her cloak with uneven, ragged fingernails. "I thought maybe you wouldn't want to talk to me anymore."

"Why would I do that?" Yoh asked, aghast. "I'm your friend, right? Friends don't do that."

"I... wouldn't really know. I haven't had very many friends." Lukka said, sitting down cross-legged and starting to play with her dusty toes.

"Why not? You're an interesting person, at least I think so." Lukka gave him a pleased smile, which faded away almost immediately.

"I just never really had any." She murmured.

"This is part of the things that you're not supposed to talk about, isn't it?" Yoh guessed after a moment of silence. Lukka nodded and stretched her legs out, leaning back on her hands.

"How are things with Hao?" She queried, changing the subject.

"I suggested the shield thing to him, but I haven't talked to him since, so I don't know." Yoh said, shaking his head.

"Is he avoiding you, or are you avoiding him?" Lukka asked, biting at one of her nails.

"I think he's just ignoring me." Yoh answered.

"So he's avoiding you." Lukka stated. "If he all the sudden doesn't want to talk to you, then he's trying to avoid talking to you."

"Why would he be avoiding me?" Yoh asked. Lukka just shrugged her shoulders, shook her hair out of her face and looked at him. "The bruise Marco gave you is looking better." She said, reaching out to turn his face fully towards her. She gasped as the other side of his face came into view.

The bruise that Marco had given him had faded to a yellow-green colour, but the other side of his face had a livid, plum-coloured mark upon the cheek from lips to eye. His dark eyes stared dolefully at Lukka, resigned and tired.

"What the hell happened?" Lukka asked. "Did Marco hit you again?"

"No, this one was Anna." Yoh mumbled.

"Bitch." The word is spoken quietly, spat through clenched teeth with such vindictiveness that Yoh recoils somewhat from Lukka, wide-eyed. Her dark eyes smouldered with anger, and she looked deadly, like Hao did those months ago, but at the same time... she looked beautiful.

"She's not-"

"She is." Lukka cut him off, tossing her hair impatiently. "She treats everyone around her like they're dirt, yourself included. In fact, she treats you more like a slave. You have to do everything, don't you? While she sits on her duff watching you kill yourself to please her."

Shocked by the display of anger, Yoh could find nothing to say, no way to defend Anna. The truth was, everything Lukka had said was exactly right, she was just voicing the quiet resentments that had been building up inside him.

"Why don't you ever fight back, Yoh? Why don't you ever tell her to stuff it?" Lukka asked, looking at him with dark eyes, the black of her irises looking now like wet paint, thick and moist, about to spill over.

"I..." Yoh considered the question, trying to come up with an answer that would satisfy both of them. "The only way to get her to listen to me would be to hit her back."

"And you can't do that." Lukka whispered. Yoh nodded dismally. "You really are too kind sometimes." Yoh shrugged his shoulders uselessly. "I could do it."

"Do what?" Yoh asked, brow crinkling in confusion.

"Hit her." Lukka clarified. "I'm a girl, girls are allowed to hit whoever they want to hit, and believe me, I've wanted to hit Anna for awhile."

"Please don't." Yoh said weakly. He could only imagine the scene that would cause. Lukka gave him a grimly amused smile.

"The only reason I don't is that I would expose myself, and I'm not ready to consider the consequences of that." She replied. "She doesn't deserve you." Yoh blinked, feeling a little bit shocked by her words. How many times had his family told him that he was lucky to have gotten Anna as his fiancé? That somehow he was undeserving. And yet, here was this strange girl, who he knew so little about, telling him that Anna was the one who didn't deserve him.

"What do you mean?"

"She repays kindness with cruelty." Lukka answered simply. Yoh thought that was fairly accurate. No matter how well Yoh followed orders, no matter how well he treated her, she always found something to pick at, something for which she could slap him.

"It's not as though I have a choice to be with her." Yoh said after a long moment of silence.

"I know." Lukka said softly. "I just don't get how she doesn't see how incredible you are." Yoh's face turned tomato red at the praise.

"I'm not that great." He mumbled.

"But you are." Lukka insisted, taking his face in her hands and bringing his face up to hers. "You treat that bitch like a queen even after everything she does to you, you refuse to doubt your friends no matter what, you would defend them to the death, and you don't consider anyone truly your enemy, even if they've hurt you. Do you have any idea of how rare a person like you is?"

"I've never thought about it like that." Yoh admitted quietly. "But I am lazy, and it does take me longer to understand things, so Anna's right about that."

"So what? Everyone has flaws." Lukka stated firmly. "Anna needs to learn to live with them, or she's going to drive you completely away... come to think of it, I don't see that as a bad thing."

"Unfortunately it doesn't matter if I don't like her or not, it's my family that set it up." Yoh explained.

"And they're not going to let you back out of it." Yoh nodded his head. "Family sucks sometimes, doesn't it?" Yoh looked at her in surprise, but she just smiled impishly back at him.

"Do you have family problems?" Yoh asked.

"Well, my brother's the only one that actually likes me, so, yeah." Lukka said it cheerfully, but Yoh could hear the hurt and resentment under the falsely cheery tone. She'd turned away from him to bite at her nails again.

"Come one, you can't really mean that. Surely they like you." Yoh coaxed. Lukka looked back at him and he was startled by the raw pain in her eyes. She shook her head slowly at him.

"You have no idea Yoh, you just have no idea." She whispered as she shook her head. "And be glad of that, ok?"

"Okay..." Yoh said, mystified.

"I'm sorry, I'm being depressing, and that's no fun." She laughed slightly and then looked up at the sun. "Ahh, I should go, I have training to do." She made a face, which made Yoh laugh. He got up and headed out of the clearing, thinking once again. Lukka had given him a small piece of the puzzle that was her, and he was trying to figure out how it all fit together.

He was so intent on his thoughts that he came out of the woods, onto the path and promptly bumped into someone. "Watch where you're going!" Hao's annoyed voice snapped at him. Yoh blinked at him benignly.

"Sorry Hao, I was lost in thought."

"Hmph, more like lost in the emptiness between your ears." Hao said peevishly. A small nut arced through the air and collided with the top of his head. Hao grunted and whirled, but there was no one to be seen, and he couldn't sense anyone there.

Yoh tried his best to stifle a chuckle, knowing exactly where the nut had come from. "Something funny?" Hao asked dangerously when he turned around. Yoh quickly shook his head.

"How's the mind-reading thing coming along?" He asked. Hao just snorted at him and turned to continue his walk. Yoh shook his head at his retreating back, waved at the trees in case Lukka was still watching, and then continued on his way.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	7. Chapter 7

Wolf: I own nothing!

The next few weeks flew by in a blur of training and secret meetings with Lukka. Hao continued to avoid Yoh for the most part, while Yoh worked up the courage to try and change his thousand-year old brother's mind about humanity. Between that, keeping Lukka's secret and surviving Anna, he had his hands full.

He and Lukka spent as much time as they could spare talking to each other and meeting with each other. Yoh told her all about her life and Lukka told him about herself, or as much as she could. When they ran out of things to talk about Lukka would read aloud to him. She loved fantasy books, and introduced him to her favourite, Harry Potter. He found himself caught up in her fever for the Boy Who Lived and eagerly looked forward to each chapter they read.

He found himself uncomfortable with Lukka constantly calling Anna a bitch, but she'd just laughed when he asked her to stop. Truthfully he felt a small, perverse pleasure in having someone call Anna out as he felt she was, and that he was unable to call her to her face. Lukka never called him coward for refusing to fight back, but sometimes he got the sense that she was thinking it, and felt ashamed.

Today was the first day of the continued tournament, and Yoh and his team were up first, fighting against the Ice Men again. Yoh smiled to himself, thinking their battle this time would be on friendlier terms than the first.

It didn't take too long, Yoh hadn't realized just how much stronger their battle with Hao had made all of them. The Ice Men came to congratulate them afterwards, but Yoh was distracted by the desire to tell Lukka all about the fight.

After he had managed to extract himself from the crowd and from his friends, making random excuses, he found himself face-to-face with his brother. "You've gotten much stronger." Hao commented, almost grudgingly it seemed.

"Thank you." Yoh said, bowing his head slightly. He went to move around Hao, but Hao blocked him.

"I still don't understand why you refuse me." Hao said idly. "You are me."

"I am me." Yoh replied shortly. "And I don't agree with your methods. I have to go."

"Where do you keep going, Yoh?" Hao asked, preventing him from leaving again.

"That's not your business, I go to be alone, so that's why I don't tell anyone where I'm going." Yoh replied. It seemed to satisfy Hao, for the moment at least, because this time when Yoh moved around him, he let him pass.

Yoh hurried to the clearing, occasionally looking back to make sure he wasn't being followed. Lukka was waiting in the clearing when he got there. She sometimes liked to scare him by popping out somewhere, but today she was just sitting on the grass, a big grin lighting up her tanned face.

"We won." Yoh said breathlessly.

"I know!" Lukka squealed, standing up and throwing her arms around him in celebration. He blushed so hard at the feel of her body against his. She let go soon after. "Eww, you're all sweaty, yuck!" She teased, eyes alight with mischief. He loved that playful look in her dark eyes, the one that said 'it's ok, I'm only funning with you'.

"How'd you know that we won?" Yoh asked as he sat down cross-legged.

"I was watching you, up at the highest point in the stadium. You were fantastic." She praised, sitting down as well, facing him. "I'll bet even the bitch was pleased."

"Well, not exactly." Yoh mumbled. Lukka raised an eyebrow. "She noticed a couple things that I did wrong and that set me back, so..."

"She expects you to be completely perfect." Lukka growled. "Either that or she's trying to kill you with the amount of training she shovels on you. I don't even train that much and I-" She cut herself off, shaking her head. "Never mind." Yoh had long since learned not to ask when she stopped talking about something.

"Well, a mistake in battle can cost you your life." Yoh shrugged, not wanting to make this a big deal. Lukka however, wasn't about to let it go. She leaned forward until her face was inches away from his, and rested her hands on his knees. His face flushed deeply; Anna never touched him like this.

"That's not the point." Lukka insisted. "The point is she pushes you too hard. How many times have you come close to collapse in the last few weeks?" She demanded. Yoh looked down; he'd lost count after ten. "How long are you going to let this go on?"

"What am I supposed to do, Lukka?" Yoh demanded. "I can't just go against my family."

"Can't you talk to them? Explain that Anna is basically abusing you, and you want out?" Lukka asked, giving him a desperate look.

"I need to keep the bloodline strong and Anna is a very strong itako, so I don't think that they're going to listen." Yoh replied glumly.

"Poor Yoh." Lukka said with real sympathy in her voice. "Poor, sweet, gentle Yoh. I don't know what would be worse, being alone or being in a loveless marriage."

"I think I'd rather be alone." Yoh said quietly. "I'd rather never marry than marry someone I can't love, and believe me, I've tried to love Anna."

"So, if you could choose, you'd marry out of love." Lukka mused. Yoh nodded his head. "I didn't expect anything less from you." She smiled at him, her moods changed as randomly as the weather. "What would you want in a partner if you could choose?"

"Well, I'd want someone that would treat me as an equal, and that I could treat as an equal. I don't want a damsel in distress, I want someone who knows how to take care of themselves and be independent. I'd want someone who can make me laugh, and who I could laugh with. Someone who will push me to be better, but not in a way that will hurt me. Someone who accepts me for me. Someone..." Yoh cut himself off. He had been about to say 'someone like you', but he couldn't do that.

It was true though. Lukka, though temperamental, sometimes cynical and always mischief-loving, had captured his mind, and his heart. He stared into those intense, beautiful eyes so close to his and found himself bewitched. Before he could stop himself he'd brought his hands up, locking them around her neck, and pulled her into a gentle kiss.

Almost immediately he realized what he'd done and panicked, pushing away and shutting his eyes, waiting for the blow he half-expected her to aim at his head. When nothing happened he cautiously opened her eyes to find her staring at him, looking as stunned as he felt.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..." He trailed off and then stood up. He had to get out of there. As he lurched towards the exit a pair of surprisingly strong arms wrapped themselves around him from behind, pressing his back against Lukka's chest and stopping him in his tracks.

"You have feelings for me?" Lukka asked quietly in his ear. Swallowing thickly, Yoh nodded his head, not daring to look at her, even as he felt her rest her chin on his shoulder. "Good." That made him look and he found her dark eyes gazing at him hopefully. "I've had a crush on you for a long time."

Yoh gently extracted himself from her grip and turned to face her. "But we can't do this." He insisted.

"Why not?" She asked, looking plaintive. "Why should we have to ignore how we feel?"

"I'm engaged, it can never happen." Lukka moved forward and cupped his face in her hands, shaking her head.

"Maybe it's just a fling, a summer romance, so to speak, but isn't it better than having to go through life without having been able to love someone and have them love you in return?" Yoh looked uncertain. "I just want you to do one thing, Yoh."

"What's that?" Yoh asked nervously.

"Put aside your duty, and do what you want for once in your life." She beseeched. "If you don't, you'll regret it the rest of your life."

"I just feel like it will be a betrayal." Yoh whispered, feeling so torn.

"To whom? You don't love Anna, and she doesn't care a bit about you, so who would you be betraying?" Lukka demanded. "Please Yoh, for once in your life, do what feels right for you." She watched as his eyes flickered between doubt and desire. "What feels right?"

"This." Yoh whispered, and sealed his lips over hers for another kiss.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	8. Chapter 8

Wolf: I own nothing!

Hao was sitting up in a tree by the edge of the forest, just thinking about things. His brother seemed to be the thing popping up most often these days. He didn't like the easy defiance Yoh showed towards him, and yet Yoh remained friendly throughout most of their exchanges, and as far as Hao could tell, it was not a false friendliness, which confused him greatly.

Speaking of which, coming out of the forest, looking mildly dazed, but radiantly happy all the same, was his aforementioned brother. Yoh was grinning, which in itself was not unusual, Yoh usually had a smile on his face. What was unusual was that it was not his usual, goony grin, but something softer, and yet it lit his face up.

Hao hopped down from the tree, curious despite himself and trotted after Yoh, catching up to him in an instant. Yoh didn't even seem to notice him until he spoke. "What were you doing out there in the woods?" Well, Yoh nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of his voice. Hao would have laughed except that soft look didn't leave Yoh's face, even in surprise.

"I wasn't really doing anything." Yoh shrugged nonchalantly. "Just thinking."

"I doubt a thought could have put that smile on your face." Hao pointed out.

"A thought can inspire, recall, why not prompt a smile?" Yoh said in return. Hao blinked at that; Yoh had sounded...wise! Hao couldn't find anything to say to that, and simply continued to walk alongside Yoh. "Have you ever been married?" Hao crinkled his brow at the strange change of conversation.

"Why does it matter to you?" He asked.

"Just something I was curious about." Yoh shrugged, giving his brother an innocent look.

"I am yours and Silva's ancestor by blood and the laws at that time and in my position required me to be married, so does that answer your question?"

"Did you love them?" The question took him by surprise and he gave his brother an odd look.

"I was married simply to procreate; both times they had been arranged." He said by way of explanation.

"If you had loved someone, would you have married them instead?" Now Hao was really confused, why the hell was Yoh asking all these questions? Unless...

"Have you fallen for someone who's not Anna?" Yoh flinched in response and Hao smirked, knowing he'd guessed right. "You have. Oh, this is rich!"

"This is simply hypothetical." Yoh protested, but he looked nervous.

"I wonder if Anna would care even if it was." Hao said idly. The look of terror that appeared on Yoh's face made his heart plummet strangely. Yoh actually looked afraid for his life at the thought.

"Please, don't mention any of this to her, she'll kill me, even if it's nothing, she'll still kill me for thinking it." Yoh whispered, face dead white. It should have given Hao a perverse sense of pleasure to have Yoh begging him, but all he could feel was a strange twisting sensation in his stomach at his brother's terrified face.

"Hmph, I suppose I can't have Anna killing you." Hao said, and felt his stomach unknot as colour returned to Yoh's face.

"Thank you." Yoh breathed.

"That fiancé of yours is going to be the death of you." Hao commented. Yoh gave him a wry look. "What?" Yoh shrugged.

"Just... for once we can actually agree on something." His voice was both amused and resigned. A moment of clarity struck Hao then and he realized that Yoh thrived on affection, companionship, love, call it what you will, but he needed it. Consigning him to a loveless marriage would be a death sentence for the gentle young man, especially with someone as vindictive and selfish as Anna. Unexpectedly a twinge of sorrow struck him; _if anyone deserved to be free to love, it was Yoh_, a tiny voice in the back of his head told him.

"YOH!" The aforementioned witch came stormed up the path towards them and viciously grabbed Yoh's ear, yanking his head down so that Hao almost thought his neck would break. "Where have you been?" Anna screeched. "You need to train!" Hao noted, and found himself alarmed by the fact that Anna's nails dug into Yoh's ear were actually drawing blood.

"Anna, is it your intention to completely remove Yoh's ear?" Hao asked idly. Anna glared at him, but released Yoh, looking at her bloody fingers in disgust. She was only concerned about the mess, not the fact that she had actually really hurt Yoh, and it showed in her face.

"Let's go." She told Yoh. Yoh let out an inaudible sigh and gave Hao a wan smile before plodding along behind Anna. Hao watched the two of them go and was supremely annoyed with himself. Since when did he feel sorry for Yoh?

Yoh was simply his weaker half, unimportant and largely uninteresting. And yet... Yoh had shown him a quiet strength, in his ability to speak to him without fear, and in his quiet assurance that everything would be alright, even when it seemed like everything was against him. Hao began to pace on the grass, trying to make sense of his strange thoughts.

It wasn't entirely true that Yoh wasn't afraid of him though, but he seemed to fear Anna more. As Hao thought about that, it began to make sense to him. Yoh understood, or believed he understood Hao, and so knew how to predict responses from him. Anna was the rabid dog, unpredictable and dangerous; there was plenty to be scared of there.

Damn, where had all these thoughts come from all the sudden? Hao thought that maybe it was because the awful clamour of other people's thoughts in his head had died down, thanks to Yoh's friendly suggestion. He no longer felt like his head was full of a swarm of bees, and felt a lot clearer than he had in so many years.

He supposed he owed Yoh for helping him with that. But, why had Yoh wanted to help him in the first place? He was giving himself a headache, and decided he would go for a long bath in the hot springs to try and ease his mind.

%&%&%&%

Lukka watched in amusement from high in the trees as Hao paced around in circles, a confused frown gracing his aristocratic features. If only Yoh could see this, he was actually getting to the psychopath! It was a shame that the technique that allowed Hao to block thoughts from entering his mind also prevented her from seeing exactly what he was thinking about, but she figured it was Yoh.

She'd nearly had a heart attack when Hao figured out that Yoh was in love with someone. Sometimes that boy didn't think before he spoke, but she loved him anyways. Then Hao had backed off for some reason, and then rescued Yoh from having his ear completely punctured by the bitch. It had taken all her self-control not to go down there and smack the bitch, but she had managed it.

Back to Hao though; who had ceased his pacing, but looked no less confused as he stared up into the sky for no reason at all. He suddenly shook his head and headed back up the path. Lukka guessed that he was going to the hot springs, because it seemed to be his spot to relax and unwind. Between following Yoh around and watching Hao, she felt like a bit of a stalker, but it was the only way she was ever going to know anything useful about these people.

She hated having to hide, hated that she couldn't walk among the people that she had come to know by watching them go about their business. It just frustrated her to no end knowing that Hao would kill his opponents, and there wasn't anything she could do about it. She was the last resort only, the one to be sent in if all else failed.

She sighed and swung through the trees, heading back to the village. Once upon a time she blindly followed the Patch's laws, and had blindly hated Hao as well. Then came the day that she started to think for herself and have her own ideas. She realized that she was essentially Hao, so did that mean that she was evil too, that she had to hate herself as well?

Doubt and anger had become her constant companions in the last couple years. She was angry at the Patch for treating her like a leper, and for consigning her to this 'destiny'. Doubt came in the form of what if thoughts, like what if she was just like Hao, and what if she had to die too, after her work was done. She'd found a new reason to despise Hao in the last several months; for giving her no hope ever of a normal life.

She found herself swayed by Yoh's notion of getting Hao to see reason though. Not that she didn't want to fight him, she actually wanted to test her skills against his. She just thought, that if Hao could be proved to not be totally evil, then there was hope for her not turning out exactly like him and perhaps she would finally be accepted.

She snorted at her foolish hopes, really, she would never be viewed as truly a member of the Patch, no matter what she did. Her life was fucked up.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	9. Chapter 9

Wolf: I own nothing!

Hao couldn't sleep. His restless mind had continually been nattering at him for the last couple days, since his last encounter with Yoh in fact, and it was really starting to get on his nerves. Not to mention his old nightmares had inexplicitly returned; always the same memory that woke him up gasping in a cold sweat.

He was starting to get annoyed with the dreams and the lack of sleep as well. They had restarted soon after he'd been able to stop thoughts from pouring into his head, so for some reason the reoccurrence of the dreams must have been related to that. Perhaps his head was once again uncluttered enough for the dreams to make it to the surface? It was a downside of no longer having to deal with thoughts bombarding him like stones, but he could deal with it.

It was clear though that he wasn't going to get anymore sleep tonight, not with his own thoughts circling around his tired mind so wildly. He got up out of the bed and pulled on his pants, forgoing his shoes and the poncho, it wasn't like anyone was going to see him. He exited via window, not feeling up to running into one of his followers on a bathroom errand or out for a midnight snack and headed down the path.

He walked into the center of the village, where streams of water softly pattered down the sides of the fountain in the middle of the square. He stopped dead in surprise as he approached it. There was already someone sitting there, someone who happened to be his own brother. It seemed Fate was determined not to allow Hao to avoid Yoh at all.

He considered just backing up and finding somewhere else to watch the stars when Yoh looked away from the sky and noticed him there. Shit, he couldn't just walk away now, it would seem like a sign of weakness, and Yoh would ask too many pesky questions like he always did.

The two of them watched each other uneasily for a moment, but then Yoh smiled slightly and patted the stone beside him, extending an invitation to Hao. Hao felt his confusion, which had been steadily brewing, increase just a little more with Yoh's easy acceptance that he was there. He couldn't back off, so he walked over and sat down.

He felt Yoh's eyes on him as he stared up into the night sky. What Yoh was thinking he had no idea, and the thought both made him nervous and relieved. A soft, friendly chuckle reached his ears as a light breeze made his hair flutter in the air.

"What?" He asked gruffly, looking over at Yoh. Yoh had a faint, amused smile on his face.

"It just seemed like we both had the same idea." He replied. Hao gave him a bemused look until he realized that Yoh was also only wearing a pair of pants. The sight of Yoh's bare torso almost gave him a heart attack, because really, he had no idea Yoh had so many scars!

His entire torso and upper arms were covered in scars, some small or thin, others massive, some old and some very recent. But what stuck in Hao's mind was the sheer amount of scarring that took place. Scattered among the scars were various bruises and smaller, non-threatening cuts. He wasn't sure why all this agitated him, but one thing was for sure, he was wrong about Yoh not knowing pain, at least in the physical sense, some of those scars looked fucking deep.

"Are you ok, Hao?" Yoh asked, bringing Hao's attention back to his face. Black eyes blinked sleepily at him. "You've just been staring for the last couple minutes."

"Of course I'm fine." Hao snapped, mentally smacking himself on the head. He needed to steer the conversation away. "What are you doing out here?" Yoh shrugged and looked up at the sky again.

"Nightmares." The younger twin said quietly. Hao was starting to wonder if there was actually any truth behind the idea of twin telepathy, because this was just getting creepy. Yoh was looking down at his hands, a disturbed expression on his face for some reason.

"How's your hypothetical girlfriend?" That at least brought a faint smile to Yoh's face. "Does this imaginary girl have a name?" That made Yoh chuckle slightly.

"I never knew that you had a sense of humour." Yoh commented offhandedly.

"I am being serious." Hao said, though he was amused by the compliment. Yoh shook his head. "So she doesn't have a name?"

"I'm not going to talk about it." Yoh said.

"More secrets." Hao sighed. "Or... is this the same secret, hm?" Yoh said nothing however, which annoyed Hao. "I could follow you to wherever you meet this hypothetical woman."

"Leave it alone, Hao." Hao had rarely heard that fierce tone in Yoh's voice, and when he did, he knew that Yoh was completely serious. "This is my life, and my secret. You have no right to pry into it. Do I pester you about your secrets? No, because I respect your privacy. The least you could do is respect mine in return."

Yoh stood up and started to walk away. As he got to the edge of the village center he turned again and offered Hao a slight bow. "Goodnight, Hao." Yoh said, before disappearing into the night and once again succeeding in completely confusing his brother.

%&%&%&%

Lukka sat quietly in the clearing, reading the seventh Harry Potter book for probably the millionth time and wishing they'd hurry up with the last movie already. Of course the book was a distraction for until her real reason for coming to the clearing emerged. She didn't have to wait long and soft, padding footsteps stole up behind her.

She ignored them until a slim, muscular arm wrapped around her middle and a pair of soft lips touched the back of her neck. She then leaned back against the chest of her secret lover. She loved the way those words made her feel rebellious and warm all at once.

"Hey." She said, looking over her shoulder and smiling at Yoh.

"Hey, yourself." Yoh said, smiling gently, if not a little bit falsely. This didn't escape Lukka's notice.

"What's the matter?" She asked in a tone that said she wasn't going to rest until he told her. Yoh chuckled slightly.

"Oh, Hao's just being... Hao." He sighed. He explained the conversation from the night before.

"Do you think he'll follow you?" Lukka asked, heart pumping furiously, half adrenaline, half fear.

"I don't know, I kind of lectured him on staying out of my private life, so he might find it in him to humour me, you know?" Yoh said. "But it's hard to tell what Hao's reactions to things will be."

"Well, he obviously didn't follow you today." Lukka mused, leaning back against him again. Yoh kissed her neck again and shifted his hands, one of them accidently slipping under the hem of Lukka's cloak. Lukka felt him hesitate nervously, but she just let him do his thing, and after a moment Yoh grew bold enough to explore.

His hands touched her bare stomach, she'd only worn a halter-top today, gently massaging the skin. "Mmm." Lukka hummed softly in appreciation and Yoh's shyness dissolved a little and his hands made their way slowly upwards. Lukka liked the feeling of her warm hands on his skin and didn't realize that they were sliding into the danger zone until one of the hands just barely brushed her left breast.

She jumped in surprise and instantly Yoh jerked as though shot and hastily removed his hands. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." He stammered over and over again as he backed away from her, hands up in a warding gesture and eyes wide and terrified.

Lukka wanted to punch Anna for creating this fear of women in Yoh. "Yoh, it's fine." She soothed. "You just startled me, I wasn't expecting you to be that bold." Yoh shook his head back and forth. "And you weren't even trying to be bold."

"I'm sorry." Yoh repeated. Lukka placed a slender finger on his lips, shushing him.

"It was an accident, and I'm not mad." She said gently. "I'm not Anna, remember? I'm not going to smack you for every little thing."

"Right." Yoh breathed, his breath tickling the finger still against his lips, making Lukka giggle. She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him sweetly, determined to banish his fears of females away. He relaxed at her touch and grasped at her cloak.

"May I...?" He asked breathlessly when they parted, tugging at the hem of her cloak. She smiled warmly at him and nodded. He pulled the cloak over her head and let out a soft noise of approval at the sight of her body.

She was wearing a baby blue halter top that showed a neat slab of toned tummy and a little navel. The top hugged her small breasts, drawing his eyes until he blushed and looked elsewhere. A small starburst of scar tissue drew his eye to her collarbone.

"Where did you get that?" He asked, reaching out to gently touch it.

"When I was younger, I tried to play with some of the other kids in the village. One of them threw a sharp rock at me." Lukka replied sadly. "I didn't try and play after that."

"They used to call me Demon boy in my village." Yoh admitted. "Threw rocks at me a couple times." He rubbed the scar gently with his thumb. "It looks a little like a star, doesn't it?"

"A little." Lukka agreed, smiling at him tenderly. Yoh leaned forward and kissed the scar softly, making Lukka shiver slightly as he spoke against her skin.

"You're beautiful."

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Wolf: Review plz!


	10. Chapter 10

Wolf: I own nothing!

Lukka: What about me?

Wolf: You own me, remember?

Lukka: Oh yeah, right!

Days passed in rapid succession, each one much like the last. Yoh and Lukka continued to have their secret trysts, and have them kept secret, for despite his threat to follow Yoh, Hao never followed up on it. The two lovers had noticed his behaviour had gotten a little bit erratic, and he had only killed one of his opponents in his first fight.

Lukka was working on getting Yoh past his nervousness in touching her. It was a frustratingly slow process, because every time she would so much as shift when he was touching her he would back off, stammering apologies. She hated what Anna had done to this sweet, gentle boy, hated the fear of intimacy that she had sown in him.

And so it was that at this stage of the relationship that Lukka was taking the dominant role, touching him and letting him know it was ok to touch in return. She knew it would be some time before he would be comfortable enough to try to take it to the next level, but in a way that made her glad, she wasn't one to want to rush things, and things were so complicated between them, more than he knew.

Yoh did seem to enjoy exploring the parts of her body she was willing to let him explore for the moment. He'd found the scars on the bottom of her right foot from where she'd stepped on a prickle vine, and found the scar on her left forearm from where she'd gotten too close to a fire and a burning ember had caught her. He especially loved the scar on her collarbone, and took every opportunity when he wasn't being skittish to touch or kiss it.

If Yoh's friends noticed something was up with him they chose not to say anything and Yoh was thankful for their discretion. Anna didn't seem to notice anything amiss, which was a good thing for Yoh. Hao would cast him meaningful looks when they passed in the streets, but Yoh could ignore those for the most part.

Yoh was having a bit of a bad day, so when he got to the clearing Lukka sat down behind him and just gently stroked her hands through his hair, because that always seemed to relax him. She liked his hair because it was surprisingly silky and always smelled sweet. Neither of them spoke a word; Lukka just waited for Yoh to tell her what was wrong.

"My grandfather asked me how I was going to kill Hao once and for all today." Yoh finally said quietly, relaxing enough to rest his back against Lukka's chest, his hair tickling her throat.

"What did you say to that?" Lukka asked.

"I asked him why it was my job to end Hao's life." Yoh replied.

"What was his reaction?"

"He started yelling about my 'duty' to the family, and destiny and all that." Yoh sighed. "And then he pulled out the big guns, telling me that if I didn't want to destroy Hao it meant that I really was his other half and therefore evil like him."

"Do you believe that?"

"Of course not, but it hurts that they believe it." Yoh sighed again. "And then Anna increased my training, again."

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again, that girl is going to kill you." Lukka said tonelessly.

"I know." Yoh groaned miserably. "I just wish... I wish I was allowed to live my life the way I want to. My family, Anna, and even Hao all have their ideas of who I should be and what I should do."

"And your own voice starts to get lost in that hubbub." Lukka added quietly. Yoh nodded miserably. "I know what that feels like."

"You do?" Yoh looked back at her in surprise. Lukka smiled into those soulful black orbs and bit her lip. She had trusted Yoh to keep her a secret, was she ready to let him know why she was such a big secret? If she never took the risk, she'd never find out, would she?

"Yeah, and I think it's time to explain why I have to be kept a secret." Lukka's heart pounded loudly in her chest, beating hard against her ribcage as Yoh turned to face her, a faint frown creasing his face. Her mind frantically told her he wouldn't like her anymore after she told him, that he'd be just like all the others. _No,_ she insisted silently. _He's different, he cares about me._

"Why do you have to be kept a secret?" He asked her quietly. Lukka gulped and licked her lips, which suddenly felt as dry as a bone. She looked away, down at her hands which were playing with the edge of her cloak.

"I was created... from DNA taken from the bones of the Patch-Hao from five hundred years ago. I'm...I'm his clone, created to destroy him."

She looked up and found him staring at her, wide-eyed and open-mouthed. She panicked, and vanished, reappearing in her room.

"AUGHH!" She screamed, flopping on her bed and punching her pillow. "Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!"

"Who's stupid?" Lukka looked up and saw Silva standing in the doorway. She broke down into sobs and babbled out the entire story as he rubbed her back soothingly.

"How did he react to you telling him what you are?" Silva asked when she was done.

"I don't know." Lukka sniffled. "I didn't stick around long enough to see it." She admitted.

"Then you should go back." Lukka looked up at Silva, blinking away tears. "If I know Yoh, then he's not going to care what you are." Silva explained gently. "He's probably wondering where you went and why in fact."

"You really think so?" Lukka asked, wiping at her face. Silva nodded. "Thanks big brother." She said, wrapping her arms around him briefly before vanishing again. When she reappeared in the clearing Yoh was still there and he jumped at her appearance before moving to take her in his arms, his face etched with worry.

"Where did you go?" Yoh asked. "Why did you go?"

"I'm sorry, I just got scared." Lukka said, looking away in shame. "I thought maybe you'd be disgusted, or afraid of me."

"Silly Lukka." Yoh breathed. "I don't care about what you are, remember? I care about you, Lukka." He kissed her tenderly. Lukka melted into it, wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him closer. "Will you tell me more?" Yoh asked when they parted. Lukka nodded and the two of them sat down on the grass, this time it was Lukka leaning against Yoh.

"The Patch's reputation had been tainted by Hao five hundred years ago. Part of their motivation was to redeem that reputation." Lukka explained. "The other part was that they figured they had a duty to protect the world from him. They knew Hao would try again, and that they needed a trump card to take him down."

"You." Lukka nodded.

"They took DNA from his body from five hundred years ago, tweaked it to make it female, either to control me easier or to make me less intimidating, I don't know, and then when the divinations told us he had been conceived, they placed me, as an embryo, in the womb of my mother and allowed me to grow."

"So that's how you can be Silva's sister." Yoh said. "Are you as powerful as Hao?"

"I am. They discovered that shamanic ability, the power level in particular, can attach itself to DNA and then creating a clone out of that had the effect of bringing someone back to life, which we know exponentially increases furyiochu." Lukka went on. "When I was old enough, Goldva gave me the Spirit of Rain as my partner."

"Fire against water, makes sense." Yoh shrugged. "Can you use the air to manifest your Oversoul like Hao can?"

"I can, but they don't know that." Lukka looked entirely too smug about this. "They gave me a pendant to use as my medium, and the Oversoul forms around my body, which gives better control for the most part."

"Why did you hide that ability from them, though?" Yoh asked.

"Because they think if they hold the pendant that I am under control, if they knew I could do that, well... they're already afraid of me Yoh, I don't want to give them something else to be afraid of."

"So if you were created to combat Hao, why haven't you tried to kill him yet?" Yoh asked.

"I'm the 'last resort', if all else fails, I don't." Lukka sighed. "They want to at least try to hang on to the notion that they are neutral in the Shaman Fight, but my existence proves otherwise, doesn't it?"

"We're all hypocrites in some way, I think." Yoh replied philosophically. "Either by accident, necessity or ignorance." Lukka smiled and snuggled into him.

"I love you." She whispered and felt his arms tighten around her in response as he kissed the back of her neck.

"And I love you, no matter what you are."

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Wolf: Review plz!


	11. Chapter 11

Wolf: I own nothing!

Hao was watching Yoh jogging along his training circuit, which happened to be around the town and then through the center, repeated as many times as Anna felt necessary to torture her fiancé. The heat was well into the forties (Celsius) with the humidity, and sweat was pouring down Yoh's body as he ran around and around, looking a little like one of those little toys on tracks, except each circuit took more and more effort.

Hao sat on the wall of the fountain, like that night when he and Yoh had spoken, but he didn't do anything but watch. He didn't care what happened to Yoh, right? He found that he wasn't as sure of the answer as he once was.

Yoh had been showing him that he had a quicker mind than Hao had initially taken him for. Combine that with the continued resistance his supposed 'other half' was displaying towards him and Hao was finding that he was developing a grudging respect for Yoh, as in perhaps Yoh wasn't the complete idiot he had always taken him for.

Yoh reappeared again, and Hao could see that he was seriously flagging. This time, instead of heading out of the village center as he had the last few times, Yoh staggered over to the fountain, mouth open and tongue lolling like a panting dog. Yoh wandered over to the fountain and scooped some of the water in it out and dashed it across his flushed face; that done he plopped down onto the fountain wall, beside Hao, panting harshly.

"Done your training?" Hao asked idly.

"Not by Anna's standards." Yoh gasped out. "But by my body's standards? Yes I am. I don't want to collapse again."

"And Anna will increase your training again if she finds out." Hao said, raising an eyebrow. "I really, truly believe she is trying to kill you."

"The only reason I know she's not is because she wants to be Shaman Queen." Yoh replied.

"The only way she could do that is if she left you for me, and I'm not about to have that harpy as my mate." Hao said.

"Don't you know that pride is one of the seven deadly sins?" Yoh said with a smile.

"It's a simple fact. No one can outmatch me in power." Hao replied.

"It's not always about how much power you have, but how you use it." Yoh pointed out.

"Are you purposely trying to annoy me?" Hao asked.

"If that's what it takes to make you pay attention to me instead of simply dismissing me like I'm nothing." Yoh said in reply. Hao blinked at him and was silent. He did do that, didn't he? Just ignored his brother, ignored everyone in fact, but they didn't matter, did they? "Could you just answer one question?"

"Like what?" Hao asked, avoiding looking at his brother.

"Why do you hate humans so much?" That gave Hao pause, and he spent a moment contemplating how to answer without revealing his innermost secrets to Yoh. He decided to go with the simplest reasons.

"You see what they've done to the world, to each other even! They're twisted, ugly, and have no place in this world." He answered. Yoh looked at him solemnly, and then shook his head.

"That's not an answer. That's what you tell everyone and maybe it's not a lie, but it's not the whole truth either. I don't have personal experience with hate, I'm not even sure I know how, but it seems to me that hatred always comes back to something personal." Yoh said quietly. "But, I can respect that you don't want to talk about whatever that is."

"Respect..." Hao repeated, staring at his brother as though he'd grown another head. Since when did Yoh have wise things to say? Or perhaps... perhaps Hao never paid enough attention to see his wisdom in the first place. Yoh nodded his head.

"As for what you did say, I agree that humans can be quite ugly." Hao looked at him, unable to mask his surprise. Yoh smiled. "But, they can also be quite beautiful."

"Hmph, you're delusional." Hao scoffed.

"You only look for the bad, so you can no longer see the good." Yoh replied gently. He was silent for a moment, thinking, apparently. "Did you know that most firefighters are volunteers?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"These are regular people, putting their lives on the line every single day, and they don't even do it for the money, they just do it because they want to help." Yoh responded.

"If humans really wanted to do something to help, they'd actually have to start giving a damn about the world around them." Hao snarled. Yoh sighed softly.

"You look at the world too simply." Yoh said. "As a shaman you should know better, that things are not simple. People try, but they are often trapped by their own circumstances. If you took the time to really look at the world around you, you'd understand that." Hao levelled a ferocious glare at his brother, but Yoh merely blinked benignly and stood up, stretching out cramped muscles. "I do believe the world needs to change, I just don't agree with your methods." Yoh said quietly, before beginning to jog away again.

%&%&%&%

"Hey, Lukka." Yoh said, sitting down behind his lover and wrapping his arms around her waist to pull her close.

"Hey yourself." She replied, leaning back to kiss him lightly on the chin. "Anything new and exciting in your life?"

"I talked to Hao earlier." Yoh replied.

"Anything come out of that?" Lukka asked.

"He actually let me talk for once instead of brushing me off, so I think I'm starting to get to him." Yoh said optimistically.

"Hmm..." was Lukka's only reply. Yoh knew how sceptical she could be, but he knew she also secretly hoped he was right.

"You don't want to have to kill him either, do you?" Yoh asked. Lukka sighed and leaned further into him.

"No, but not for the same reasons as you. Part of me believes that if he deserves to die, if he is in fact evil, then what am I? What do I deserve?" She said in a subdued voice. "I know, I know I am not him, but those thoughts still remain, and I know even without being able to hear their thoughts that the rest of the Patch think that way too. They wonder, and maybe, just maybe, if they see he can change, then maybe..."

"Maybe they won't treat you like an outsider." Yoh finished. Lukka let out a little sob and nodded. "Oh, Lukka." He sighed and wrapped his arms tighter around her, nuzzling the back of her neck. "You don't need their approval."

"But I still want it." Lukka muttered stubbornly. "And I don't want to die."

"What do you mean?"

"What do you think they'll do with me once I've done what I was created to do?" Lukka queried. "I frighten them as much as Hao does, do you really think they'd keep me around?"

"But, but they wouldn't kill you, would they?" Yoh was horror-stricken.

"You know as well as I how people get when they are frightened." Lukka replied darkly.

"I wish there was some way I could take this all away." Yoh lamented, so sweetly Lukka thought her heart would break.

"You have your family to think about." She reminded him. "I'll be alright. Death... death may actually be preferable to this purgatory that is my life."

Yoh didn't protest this, because it was probably true. Her life was a waiting game for the time that she would kill the man who she shared DNA with. Her own people shunned her, and only two people in the world cared about her. To Yoh that would be beyond purgatory, it would be hell. So he said nothing, and just held her there, letting her know that someone cared.

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Wolf: So much angst...


	12. Chapter 12

Wolf: I own nothing!

Hao just knew that his lack of sleep was beginning to show on his face. He didn't need a mirror, all he needed were the worried looks on his followers' faces and Opacho's constant question of 'Is Hao-sama alright?' to know that he looked horrid. Of course, being Hao Asakura he brushed their concerns away impatiently and kept on going. It was a good thing he actually liked coffee, because he was drinking it more and more these days.

His nightmares hadn't let up, and a new element had been added to them, one that confused and frightened him at the same time. He didn't like being frightened, fear was weakness, was it not? He had faced down death, gone through Hell, literally, and suddenly he was feeling fear? It made absolutely no sense at all.

After another night of tossing and turning and waking up with a scream locked in his throat, Hao once again escaped the house he was staying in and padded through the dark streets. He headed for the fountain, his stomach starting to knot for some odd reason. As he turned the corner into the village center he saw a familiar silhouette sitting on the fountain wall.

Instead of feeling annoyance or dismay at the sight of his twin, Hao found himself unexpectedly feeling relief. He wasn't sure why that particular emotion was first and foremost in his mind, but it was. He had no qualms about walking over to join Yoh by the fountain, even though he knew Yoh would start asking pesky questions like he always did.

Yoh looked up as Hao padded up and offered him the same friendly smile that he always had. Hao could see fresh bruising on Yoh's left pectoral and a scabbed gash on his knee. "Couldn't sleep again?" Yoh asked quietly. Hao nodded his head. "Yeah, me neither." Hao let his eyes meet Yoh's and saw dark circles around them, probably they looked the same as the ones around his own eyes. He was really wondering about that twin telepathy thing at this point.

"Just how clumsy are you?" Hao asked, gesturing at the fresh wounds on Yoh's body.

"It's not clumsiness that gets me most of these." Yoh replied, looking down. "My fighting style requires me to use my body to enhance the moves, meaning it's easier for injuries to occur than for someone like you whose Oversoul is not an extension of your physical self and can operate simply with orders."

"You could always change the techniques." Hao pointed out. Yoh shrugged his shoulders carelessly.

"Amidamaru is a samurai, I would be wise to use his skills in the manner that he knows best, yes?" Seriously, when did Yoh get smart?

"Why is it that sometimes you act so stupid, but then you turn around and come out with something like that?" Hao asked, not entirely unkindly, but apparently Yoh could still hear the bite in his voice and bit his lip, looking a little like a kicked puppy for a moment.

"I will be the first to admit I can be a little slow to understand things." Yoh said slowly. "I have what's called ADHD-PI, which means Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder predominantly inattentive."

"Which means what?" Hao asked.

"It basically is a fancy way of saying that it's very difficult for me to pay attention because of some chemical imbalance or something in my brain." Yoh explained. "It makes it hard for me to understand things and I don't do well in school because paying attention to detail is hard for me." He sighed slightly. "It just means I have to work harder to get things than other people do, and the ironic thing is that because of the disorder I don't want to work hard."

"How do you fight if you're distracted so easily?"

"Well, I don't know how to explain it other than I seem to go into a different state of mind than normal when I fight." Yoh said, running a hand through his spiked hair. "Although I still have to work not to get distracted by shiny things."

"Shiny things?" Hao repeated incredulously. Yoh shrugged and gave him a half-hearted grin in reply. "I can see why that might be a problem."

"And you can see why I sometimes act like I have my head in the clouds." Yoh added. "I do what I can to work past it, but it's hard."

"Something I doubt your fiancé understands." Hao hypothesized, noticing a fist-like bruise on his upper back the size of Anna's hand. Yoh nodded glumly at the thought. "What does your hypothetical girlfriend think of it?" Yoh gave him a look, but didn't say anything. It seemed he was determined to keep his mouth shut. "Why can't you sleep?" Hao then asked instead, not wanting to look foolish waiting for an answer that would never come.

"Same thing as last time, nightmares." Yoh replied with a shrug.

"What kind of nightmares?" Yoh gave him an odd look.

"Why would I tell you that?" He asked, sounding almost exactly like Hao in that moment. Hao gazed at him thoughtfully for a moment, his curiosity was piqued. What kind of nightmare would have Yoh, the champion of sleeping, losing precious sleep? He had to know, but what to give Yoh in return to make him spill the beans?

"If you tell me you nightmare, then I'll tell you mine." He offered, thinking it would be a fair trade. Yoh gave him a wary look.

"Why would you tell me your nightmare?" He asked suspiciously. Hao shrugged his shoulders.

"I know you can be trusted with a secret." Yoh blinked and his face softened at the unintended compliment. It had been unintended as a compliment, but Hao realized that it was true.

"I guess I could..." Yoh gazed at him, dark sleepy eyes boring into identical, but sharper eyes. "You may not like what you hear though." Yoh warned quietly. Hao merely huffed in derision. Yoh turned his body so that he was facing Hao and lifted his legs to sit cross-legged on the fountain wall. One hand idly traced random patterns in the water.

"In my dream, we're back in front of the Great Spirit, when you tried to take it by force." Hao merely shifted at the mention of that day. "Only, only this time, things are different." Yoh gulped, looking nervous. "I was you, or in your body and forced to watch. I could feel rage, but it wasn't my own, and I couldn't control the body I was in, yours."

Hao felt himself freeze up inside, but he didn't attempt to stop Yoh, even though he was sure he knew what was coming next.

"The body I was in started killing my friends, each of them, one at a time, and I couldn't stop it from happening." Yoh's voice was barely above a whisper and was rough with pain. "The last person standing was myself and the body I was in moved to cut him down too, but before the final blow came down, I wake up, every time."

Hao struggled to keep his horror under check, but he could feel his facial muscles twitching even so. Yoh looked up at him and his eyes became concerned. "Are you alright?" He asked. "You look like you've seen your own death or something."

"I guess there's no such thing as coincidence." Hao answered, grateful his voice didn't shake. Yoh tilted his head at him, brow furrowing in confusion. "My dream seems to complement yours in that it is the exact same scene, except that I am you, watching myself wreak all that destruction." Hao shivered unconsciously, remembering the mad look on his dream-self's face as he had borne down on him in the last few seconds of the dream.

Yoh was wearing the oddest expression on his face, and he was frowning like he was trying to remember something. "Legilimency." Hao frowned at the strange word, he'd never heard it before.

"Excuse me?" Yoh's eyes shifted to him.

"It's from a series of books called Harry Potter. It's the ability to penetrate someone else's mind. In the story the main character finds himself dreaming of being inside his foe's head, seeing as he sees things." Yoh explained. "I guess it's the closest thing to what's happening between us." Yoh bit his lip. "I think you're winding up eavesdropping on my dreams somehow."

"We are connected." Hao reminded him.

"Then why didn't this happen before?" Yoh asked. Hao had no answer to that. His quick mind tried to come up with hypotheses, but the one that it kept coming back to was that maybe he had developed an empathetic connection to his brother. That was just simply ridiculous.

"I'm not sure." He finally had to answer. Yoh blinked at him and then yawned widely.

"I should probably get back before the sun rises and Anna finds me missing, huh?" Hao nodded his head vaguely. Yoh stood up and shuffled off to his house.

"You should try stopping her from hitting you." Hao commented. Yoh paused and looked back at him. "Maybe then she won't be so eager to hit." Yoh nodded his head slightly.

"Thanks, and good night." With that he disappeared into the darkness, leaving Hao alone with his twisted thoughts.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	13. Chapter 13

Wolf: I own nothing!

Hao was choosing more and more often to be alone these days. He found that his followers, with their mindless attitude towards following him, gave him a headache like he'd never had before. He wasn't sure why it bothered him that they were so mindlessly content to do whatever he said, but he had a feeling his brother's resistance had something to do with it.

It had been two days since he'd found out Yoh and him were having the same dream from different perspectives, and he'd gotten less sleep than ever trying to avoid having the dream. It just felt strange knowing that it wasn't really his dream in the first place, because he was certain that the idea, that Yoh would become Hao, came from Yoh and not him.

He walked through the woods, half hoping he would see Yoh again, and half hoping he did not. His brother had become a point of interest to him, for reasons he was not fully able to understand. He had thought he knew what Yoh was like, and had dismissed him. Now, he was finding there was more to Yoh then he had originally believed and was intrigued by each new facet of personality that was revealed to him.

At the same time it didn't make sense for him to be taking such an interest in his 'lesser half'. He was only encouraging Yoh's ongoing opposition to him and even giving Yoh the opportunity to believe that he was no longer a threat. Yoh might even come to believe that he could change Hao's mind and turn him into one of his little friends.

Hao sneered at the thought of him in Yoh's happy little gang of misfits and idiots, but surprisingly, the idea was not completely repulsive. For once it might be nice to have someone who would really listen. He shook his head, such ideas were dangerous and only caused one to diverge from the path. He would have to discourage Yoh's attentiveness towards him from now on.

He sighed, feeling a twinge of regret at the thought and turned to head out of the forest. He halted at the sound of a massive, furious roar. It reminded him in some way of the Spirit of Fire's roar, but instead of the sound of a raging fire, this roar was like the crashing of storm-driven waves and lashing rain.

He instantly summoned Spirit of Fire and allowed the massive spirit to bring him up above the canopy to find the source of the strange roar. It didn't take long. The creature responsible for the roar was as big as Spirit of Fire and blue-grey in colour with black markings. Hao knew immediately what he was looking at.

"Spirit of Rain." He whispered, amazed that it was out and about. He disengaged the large Oversoul and flew on his own power towards the second of the five elemental spirits created from the Great Spirit itself. As he got close it was clear that the Spirit of Rain was being attacked, by the X-Laws it seemed, judging by the presence of Michael and Shamash.

He got close enough to see what was going on, and hid himself in a tree. His quick eyes quickly spotted the Spirit of Rain's partner, a person hidden by a long, large white cloak with an eagle design upon it. They seemed to be trying to get to something, but the X-Laws kept blocking them and they had to keep defending themselves with the Spirit of Rain.

Hao's eyes wandered through the battlefield and rested upon a small something covered almost completely in red. He narrowed his eyes, trying to focus in on the thing crumpled so carelessly on the ground. The shape resolved itself into a tangle of limbs, a familiar head of chestnut brown hair... no.

Yoh was lying on the ground, covered in blood. He was motionless, leading Hao to believe that the blood was his, and that he was in serious trouble. He shouldn't have cared, if Yoh had been foolish enough to walk into a trap laid by the X-Laws, he should reap the consequences. And yet...

Yoh really wasn't any use to him dead, and the thought of leaving him there, covered in his own blood to be killed by those zealous freaks was too cruel for him to think about it. With no ceremony Hao smirked and dropped the Spirit of Fire in among the X-Laws.

Pandemonium ensued and Hao watched as the unknown person, likely a Patch by their manner of dress, used the distractions to run for Yoh. As the figure reached Yoh's side, the X-Laws decided they had taken enough beatings, and beat a hasty retreat. Hao wasted no time in climbing down from the tree to see what kind of damage had been done.

The Spirit of Rain disappeared as he hit the ground. The Patch person, whose face was shadowed by the hood they were wearing, was ripping strips of their cloak off to try to cover the deep, heavily bleeding wounds in Yoh's torso. Hao knew just by looking though that staunching the blood, and even getting him to a doctor immediately wouldn't do anything.

It looked like someone had dropped buckets of blood all over Yoh and around his body. Yoh's eyes were still open, but they were glassy and confused. His skin had taken on an ashen pallor and his lips were dead white. Yoh's breathing came in quick, erratic, struggling gasps and his body shook weakly. He was dying, and very quickly.

Hao knelt down and reached out a hand. "What are you doing?" The Patch screamed, sounding to Hao's ears like a female.

"He's dying, no doctor will be able to save him in time, he's lost too much blood." Hao explained. "But I can heal him." The Patch woman said nothing, but didn't protest when Hao rested his hands on the blood-smeared chest of his brother. Concentrating deeply he worked on getting the blood to pump faster while creating more blood cells quickly and repairing the damaged tissues.

"Lu...Lukka..." Hao barely heard the small sigh from his brother, but felt Yoh's body go completely slack. He ignored it however, closing up the deep wounds, but not completely. Once he took his hands away all that were left were some shallow gashes that bled sparingly.

"You can bind his wounds now." The Patch woman, whom he assumed was Lukka, merely frowned at him, the lips being the only thing he could see of her face, and gently used strips from her cloak to bind the wounds. A soft rumble of thunder made them both look up at the darkening sky an instant before rain began to pelt down.

Lukka huffed and lifted Yoh, who was still unconscious, into her arms and walked over to a nearby tree, sitting down under its sheltering boughs. Hao stood up and followed her.

"You're not even going to thank me for saving him?" He demanded, somewhat annoyed.

"Why should I thank you for something that was your fault in the first place?" Lukka snapped back, sitting down with Yoh's head in her lap.

"Excuse me?" Hao blinked at her. Her lips curled up in a sneer.

"If it wasn't for you, they never would have attacked him in the first place." She snarled. "You are the reason they consider him an enemy, and thus the reason he had gotten those injuries." Hao was impressed by her logic, but tried his best not to show it.

"You seem very passionate about defending him. Why is that?" Hao asked pleasantly. Her lips scowled at him.

"I defended him because I actually give a damn about someone other than myself you selfish, arrogant, son-of-a-bitch."

"DO NOT SAY ANYTHING AGAINST MY MOTHER!" Hao found himself roaring, glaring down at the woman who dared slander his mother. "She was good and kind, and I will not have her insulted in such a manner."

"If she was so good, what would she have to say about what you've become?" Lukka retorted. That startled Hao into silence; he didn't know how to answer her question. He stared at her, seeing how her chest heaved as she breathed heavily, anger and adrenaline mixed, and the fingers that combed through Yoh's hair lovingly.

"You're Yoh's hypothetical girlfriend." Lukka let out a snort which turned into a short, sharp laugh. "Are you going to show me your face?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to." Lukka replied, her voice both cutting and teasing at the same time. "Why should I tell you anything?" Hao growled at her, but that only seemed to amuse her.

"At least now I have a name, Lukka." He repeated the name, rolling it on his tongue. "I believe it means bringer of light. What light do you bring?" She was silent, lips pursed as she refused to answer him. He growled again, really annoyed by this point.

"It must really irritate you that I refuse to answer you, doesn't it?" She taunted quietly. "The big, bad Hao Asakura can't get answers out of one little girl."

"If you're just going to insult me, I'm leaving." She gave him a little sardonic wave in reply. He huffed and stomped away from the tree, into the rain. He looked back only once, to see Lukka lightly kiss the tip of Yoh's nose, before the rain obscured them both from view.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	14. Chapter 14

Wolf: I own nothing!

Yoh groaned softly as he came back to awareness. His chest hurt, but it wasn't too bad, which surprised him because he'd thought that he had some pretty bad wounds. He slowly opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was a pair of worried, grave black eyes looking back at him.

"Lukka?" He asked hoarsely. Lukka responded by giving him a bright, relieved smile and kissing him gently.

"You nearly scared me half to death." She informed him in a dry tone, but he could hear the quiver in her voice.

"I'm sorry." Yoh murmured, pulling himself up and hugging her tenderly. He then poked at the strips of cloth that hid his bare chest with its wounds from view. "What happened?" He asked.

"I was going to ask you the same thing." Lukka asked, looking worried. Yoh thought for a moment.

"Why don't I explain what happened first, and you can pick up where I leave off?" He suggested. Lukka nodded, her dark eyes never leaving his face. "I was doing my training, Anna's been getting me to run a new route through the forest, and I was almost done when I was attacked. They came out of nowhere and just started hacking at me. I didn't have Harusame with me and Amidamaru was having a chat with Bason, so I couldn't defend myself or call for help. I remember seeing you hovering over me after awhile, but then everything was kind of sketchy and I think I lost consciousness. What else happened?"

"I had been walking out to the clearing, and my mind was open, so I heard basically a mental scream from you, and immediately went to see what had happened. When I found you the X-Laws had already been at you and you were a mess. I tried to get to you, but I've never trained to fight more than one person at a time, and certainly not those that strong." She looked annoyed and ashamed by this.

"It's ok Lukka, we're not perfect." Yoh soothed. Lukka shook her head and continued.

"This is when things get really interesting. All the sudden Hao shows up and blasts the shit out of the X-Laws, making them run with their figurative tails between their legs." She smirked. "I was able to get to you, but then Hao informed me that you would die even if I got you to a doctor and then healed you. He then sat and talked with me for a few minutes, but then I made him mad and he went away. And then you woke up and here we are." Lukka finished quickly.

"Wait, Hao healed me? And he talked to you?" Yoh asked, bewildered. "Did you tell him anything, or let him see your face?"

"No to both, and I'm also confused as to why he healed you." Lukka replied.

"He needs me alive." Yoh muttered. "He's not going to risk losing me to death." He looked down at his chest. "Probably left me with wounds to remind me that I was stupid or something."

"Or to trip up the X-Laws a little bit." Lukka hypothesized. "Either way I'm glad that he did it." She sighed, touching Yoh's face lightly. Yoh placed his hand over hers and closed his eyes, allowing peace steal over him for the moment. All too soon reality intruded on his mind and he sighed, pulling away.

"I need to go now, they'll wonder where I've been." He said, standing reluctantly. Lukka nodded and stood as well, reaching out to embrace him once more before vanishing completely and leaving Yoh to go back and face his fiancé.

%&%&%&%

The next day Yoh found himself walking aimlessly through the forest instead of doing his training. What was the point? He'd already had hours of push-ups, sit-ups, chin-ups and whatever else you could think of, didn't he deserve a break? Not to mention he had a match tomorrow and it wasn't good to push yourself too hard before a competition, or so he'd heard.

"Shouldn't you be doing something productive?" Hao's voice made him whip around. His brother was leaning against a tree with that all-too familiar smirk plastered on his face.

"I'm resting up for tomorrow's fight, so I am doing something productive." Yoh replied. He gazed at Hao a moment before bowing slightly. "Thank you for saving me the other day."

"Hmph, like I said, you're no use to me dead." Hao responded disinterestedly. "I would like to know more about Lukka though. She seems very interesting."

"Anything you want to know you'll have to find out from her, I won't tell you anything." Yoh said, clearly frustrating his brother.

"Why do you insist on this?" Hao asked him angrily.

"Because he cares about me and does not wish to betray the trust I have in him." Yoh blinked at the sound of Lukka's voice. She was standing behind Hao, her face hidden by her hood, the only thing of her face seen being her lips once again, which were twisted in a smirk not unlike Hao's.

"Ahh, so the elusive Lukka has returned." Hao said, turning to face her.

"I will be the first to admit that I am curious, as much as you are of me." Lukka said. "Your reaction to what I had to say to you yesterday in particular interested me. I called you a son of a bitch, and you responded in a rage, why?"

"What kind of person wants their mother to be slandered?" Hao asked. "How would you feel?"

"I feel nothing for my mother, as she feels nothing for me, never has." Lukka's voice was dead calm and that seemed to unnerve Hao a little. Yoh understood why she spoke so plainly, the only one of the Patch that cared about her was her brother.

"Surely that is the surly, rebellious teenager talking and not completely true." Hao said. Lukka shook her head.

"She may have borne me, but it was my brother who raised me, my mother wants nothing to do with me." She told him as calmly as if she were talking about the weather. "It doesn't really concern me, how can I care about someone who gives me no care in return?"

Hao's moods were subtle, barely there, but Yoh had become adept at reading them, and he could tell that Hao was flabbergasted by Lukka's casual dismissal of a mother-child bond. He could just about feel the cogs working in Hao's head, looking for some way out of the conversation. That begged the question of what had happened to Hao's mother in the first place for him to be so passionate about his bond to her.

"The whole shaman community is in an uproar." Hao commented finally. "The X-Laws have been spreading conspiracy theories and accusing the Patch of favouritism."

"There was no favouritism involved, the event I interfered in had nothing to do with the tournament and thus not covered in the 'pledge of neutrality'." Lukka responded. "Truthfully, only the officials are bound by that anyhow, so they cannot complain."

"But they will." Hao pointed out, earning a faint, amused smile from Lukka. "I'd like to know why you hold the Spirit of Rain."

"Because I can." Lukka replied blithely, making Hao's eyebrow jump in annoyance. "You have all these big ideas, a world without fear, without injustice, without hate, don't you?"

"Yes." Hao replied, to Yoh's eyes baffled by the swift change in subject.

"How can you have a world free of hate, when that world was created out of hatred?" Yoh was stunned, Lukka seemed to have taken one of his biggest problems with Hao's plan, one that he had trouble conveying in coherent words, and summed it up beautifully. Even better, Hao didn't seem to know what to say, so Lukka forged onwards.

"I have to say that you are a hypocrite."

"Excuse me?" Hao snapped, glaring furiously at her. Yoh desperately prayed that Lukka would not overstep and provoke Hao into attacking her. Then again, that might make Lukka happy to finally be able to test her skills against his.

"Hypocrite." Lukka repeated slowly. "You say you want to stop the killing and the destruction, and yet you yourself are a destroyer. How many have you killed? How many have you hurt?"

Hao's mouth opened and closed, but he was too furious, and too astonished to make words come out of his mouth. Yoh could see him working very hard to bring his simmering emotions under control and waited, worried that he might try to hurt Lukka. After what seemed like an eternity Hao simply spun on his heel and stalked off.

"Notice that if he feels he's losing the argument he leaves?" Lukka asked when Hao was gone.

"I wish you hadn't done that." Yoh sighed.

"Why?" Lukka asked. "I just got him to think a little more."

"You also may have just made him that much more angry." Yoh pointed out.

"He won't kill you though, and I'm not about to let him kill me." Lukka replied. "So, I think we're ok."

"He might go after my friends in retaliation." Lukka shook her head at him.

"He knows if he does that he loses any and all opportunity to bring you to his side." She revealed. "He won't risk it, not unless he's gone completely insane." Yoh hummed in appreciation of her logic. He moved forward to give her a kiss.

"Shall we go to the clearing now?"

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Wolf: Review plz!


	15. Chapter 15

Wolf: I own nothing!

Yoh walked into the house that he and his family and friends had commandeered for their own later that day and was immediately assaulted by Anna's screeching voice. 'Where have you been?" The blonde itako demanded. Yoh flinched as she poked a sharp nail at his chest, aggravating his wounds there.

"I needed to be alone for a little while." Yoh answered quietly.

"And shirking your training while doing so." Anna snapped back. "Well, now you can have it doubled tomorrow." She turned to go, clearly dismissing him.

"No." The single, softly spoken word stopped her dead in her tracks and seemed as powerful as if he'd bellowed it in her face. She turned back slowly and stared at him, her brown eyes showing a mixture of astonishment and fury.

"What did you just say?" She demanded through clenched teeth, her hand twitching by her side. Yoh saw it and the familiar fear of one of Anna's legendary slaps flitted briefly through him, but he steeled himself, knowing if he backed down now, he would never again find the courage to stand up to her.

"I said no, Anna." He told her firmly. "The amount of training I do is inhumane, not even soldiers do so much. I understand I need to be in peak physical condition to fight, but I will not work myself to death."

"If it wasn't for my training, you would never have survived the first round." Anna hissed.

"Perhaps not, but that is not the point. The point is that you're working me past my body's limits, and you could actually kill me." Yoh replied. "Perhaps if you weren't so selfishly determined to become Shaman Queen, then maybe you'd see that."

That was when Anna's hand moved. Yoh saw it out of the corner of his eyes, and moving just as quickly, grabbed her right hand before it collided with his face. Her eyes narrowed, and Yoh caught her other hand as it flew to his face. He held both her hands gently, but firmly, and stared down into her eyes gravely.

"There will be no more of that, Anna. I am not your slave and so do not have to do everything you say. I am ashamed that I allowed this to go on for so long." Yoh told her softly.

"You stupid, lazy bastard." Anna growled, trying to tug out of her grip. "Since when do you think you can argue with me?"

"Why are my needs and my wants any less important than yours?" Yoh demanded. "Why is it that I should give everything to you, and you give nothing in return? I'm not asking you to love me, all I'm asking is for respect."

"You don't deserve respect." Anna shrilly yelled.

"That is only your opinion." Yoh and Anna looked to the new voice and found Ren regarding the two of them intently from the doorway. "If not for Yoh I would have been lost, and without Yoh the entire world would have been lost. I believe he has earned the respect of this entire shaman community, even Hao himself."

Anna huffed and yanked her wrists out of Yoh's gentle grip. She spun on her heel and stalked off, clearly pissed off.

"That was brave of you." Ren commented nonchalantly. Yoh shrugged in reply. "So, who was the person who saved you from the X-Laws the other day?"

"I don't know." Ren searched his eyes and Yoh worked to keep his face blank. He hated lying to his friends, but he knew he had to keep Lukka a secret. The guys had pestered him incessantly about the attack and he gave only an account of events that made it seem like his wounds hadn't been so bad in the first place and that he'd passed out from a blow to the head so he didn't actually know if Hao had come to rescue him or not. He allowed his friends to come up with their own theories after that.

"You rarely do things for no reason, even if it seems like it, so if you have something you need to keep secret, then I will trust you." Ren finally sighed. "I owe you that much."

"You owe me nothing." Yoh replied, but Ren had already gone. Yoh stared at the spot where he had been only a moment before, and a slow, relieved smile stole over his face. He had no doubt now that Ren would trust him no matter what the coming weeks brought.

%&%&%&%

Hao watched his brother talking with his friends after another successful match. His fiancé, Anna, was nowhere to be seen, which was odd because she was usually harping at him about something he'd done wrong in the match. Faust was busy sewing up a gash on his forearm while Yoh patiently bore the needle threading in and out of his skin. Hao winced internally, though he could take massive amounts of pain without a sign of discomfort, he still did not like to experience it and went out of his way to avoid it.

He carefully watched Yoh, waiting for him to go off on his own like he liked to and then silently stole after him. He contemplated trying to find where he and his not-so-secret-anymore girlfriend were meeting, but then for some reason dismissed the notion. He had a feeling that the prickly Lukka would take offence, and in fact Yoh would probably likely never talk to him again. He wasn't sure why that thought made him feel ill, but he chose to listen to it.

"You did well today." He called, smirking slightly as Yoh whirled in surprise. The look of surprise quickly melted into a mixture of worry and happiness, making Hao's heart twinge a little bit.

"Thank you, Hao." Yoh replied, ever polite and willing to speak kindly to everyone, even those who had hurt him. It was a strange and bewildering facet of Yoh's personality that he could find kindness even for those that considered him an enemy and wanted him gone. In the last little while Hao was slowly admitting to himself that it was amazing that Yoh found kindness enough for him.

Yoh actually leaned against a nearby tree, clearly getting comfortable for a conversation. The calculating, goal-driven part of Hao told him to get out of there, brush Yoh off, get him completely out of his life, but a voice, the voice of his deeper psyche, one that he had not heard for many years whispered in a voice that seemed louder, yearning for the companionship that Yoh so easily offered him. He wavered for a couple minutes, arguing back and forth with himself, but when he stared again into Yoh's patient, inviting eyes, he relented and leaned himself against a tree as well, fumbling for words to say.

"You seemed agitated by Lukka the other day." Hao looked up in surprise; Yoh had been the one to start a conversation this time.

"It just seemed odd, that's all." Hao shrugged in what he hoped was nonchalance. "She was of course being dramatic." Hao grimaced, though he tried so hard not to, when Yoh shook his head.

"Every word of what she said was true, unfortunately." Yoh sighed, looking sad. "She doesn't talk about it much, but it's always sort of there, hovering overhead."

"She doesn't even seem to care though." Hao blurted.

"She never had the love of a mother, her mother never took care of her, so she doesn't really understand what it means to have a mother." Yoh explained. "To us, the thought is incomprehensible, to her it's simply a reality of life."

"What kind of mother doesn't love her child?" Hao murmured, feeling disturbed.

"This seems to have struck a chord in you." Yoh commented. Hao remained silent, but his lips pressed together firmly. "Were you close with your mother?"

"Why should I tell you that?" Hao snapped, glaring at him angrily. He didn't want to think of her; it hurt too much, even after all this time.

"I didn't say you had to." Yoh's voice held a soothing tone to it. "I only wanted to understand why Lukka's mother problems affected you so much." Yoh's dark, soulful eyes stared into Hao's, hopeful, shy and encouraging. Those eyes made Hao want to relax, to tell him all those things he'd held back all these years. "You told me yourself that you could trust me with secrets." Hao's resistance wavered, and then died. What harm was there in telling Yoh about this one thing?

"My mother raised me." He said carefully. "I don't remember my father, nor do I think he was ever a part of my life. My mother of course was a shaman, and taught me about spirits and to respect all other living, and non-living beings." He took a deep breath, struggling against a lump rising in his throat. "She was gentle, and kind, but didn't tolerate bullshit of any kind from me. She was my entire world."

"What happened to her?" Yoh asked quietly.

"When I was young, I'm not sure what age anymore, but just barely past toddler, the villagers decided that she was a demon of some kind, because she could see and spoke to spirits. She must have known something was happening, because she made me go and play in the forest for a little bit. When I got back, the house was on fire, and I could hear my mother's screams in the middle of the blaze. I tried to get to her, but the fire was too much and she died trapped in there."

Hao stopped and kept his head lowered, working very hard not to cry. He couldn't cry, there was no point in it, it was simply weakness and it would make him look weak in Yoh's eyes, and he couldn't allow that. He thought he had it under control until he looked up to find tears silently trickling their way down Yoh's cheeks.

"I'm so sorry." The soft, sincere, pain-filled words undid Hao and the tears that he'd kept locked away for so many years came spilling forth, seeping down his face in a seemingly unending torrent. The tears blurred his vision until he couldn't see a thing at all so he didn't know that Yoh had moved closer until thin, muscular arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him close.

At first Hao tensed, because of the unfamiliarity of the gesture, but he realized that Yoh only wished to comfort him and soon sagged, his head resting against his brother's chest, feeling Yoh rest his own head on top of his and felt Yoh's continued tears seep into his long hair while his own seeped into Yoh's shirt. Hesitantly Hao allowed himself to wrap his arms around Yoh's middle, seeking to amplify their momentary bond.

Part of him knew this was a mistake, that he would regret giving into this, but for this moment he didn't care. The two of them weren't enemies at that moment, they weren't on opposite sides, they were simply brothers, taking comfort in each other's presence. Hao found that the thought wasn't so abhorrent after all.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	16. Chapter 16

Wolf: I own nothing!

Yoh allowed Hao to cry into his chest for the longest time. His own tears had dried up some time ago, but Hao seemed to have an unending supply of them. Hao didn't cry loudly, his shoulders shook, his breath came in uneven gasps and the tears soaked into Yoh's clothes, but he made almost no sound as he cried.

After what seemed like a life's age, Hao tensed up in Yoh's arms, coming back to himself a little bit. Yoh let go, allowing his brother to pull away from him, not wanting to break the fragile trust the elder had allowed himself to feel for him. He studied Hao's face, carefully gauging the pyro's state of mind.

Hao stared back dully, his dark eyes bloodshot and lashes clumped together with tears. Wet tracks were carved in his cheeks and Hao made no move to wipe them away, his hands hanging loosely by his sides. He snuffled a little still and Yoh knew that he wasn't quite ready to rejoin the real world, and knew that they were far too out in the open here.

He reached out for Hao's hand, taking it in spite of the low, half-hearted growl that escaped the elder's lips, and led him deeper into the forest. He had no particular destination in mind, just somewhere far enough off the path that hopefully no one would see him. Hao didn't protest beyond the initial growl, and Yoh thought that maybe he understood what Yoh was trying to do.

When Yoh felt that they were isolated enough he let go of Hao and stepped back a bit to give him some space. Hao sort of stepped back a little, looking somewhat lost. He still made no effort to do anything to make himself presentable and Yoh saw that his hair was mussed in addition to his tear-stained face. His heart clenched painfully, it was even more distressing to see Hao like this than anyone else because he always seemed so sure of himself, and now... he just seemed so vulnerable.

Yoh wanted to hug Hao again, but as he stepped forward Hao stepped back again, the dull eyes sharpening a touch, bringing with it the familiar mask that hid Hao's true feelings. Yoh sighed at the sight of it, wishing that Hao would let him see the real him for just awhile longer. Hao looked like he was about to snap at him for something, but Yoh spoke first.

"Feeling a little bit better?" Hao's mouth shut with an audible click and a flicker of confusion briefly crossed his face. Then a suspicious scowl dominated his features.

"What exactly are you trying to do here, Yoh?" He demanded. Yoh shook his head and sighed.

"You think you understand so much, but you really don't." He lamented quietly. Hao looked outraged. "I don't want to do anything but make sure you're ok. I care about what happens to you, I understand that's hard for you to comprehend, but I think I've made that clear."

"You could be just trying to get dirt on me." Hao muttered rebelliously, turning his face away and quickly wiping off the wetness. Yoh rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Now you're just being childish. You know that I don't pray on people's weaknesses, I'm not like the X-Laws or.." he cut himself off, not wanting to say 'or like you', he didn't want to make Hao mad. The sharp look that Hao threw him told him that Hao had understood exactly what he had wanted to say.

"You understand nothing about the world, you think everything's alright-"

"Don't treat me like a child, Hao, I know what the world is like, you're not the only one who's been called Demon." Silence reigned as the two brothers stared at each other. Emotions flitted across Hao's face, each brief and nearly invisible, but Yoh could still see them, grief, confusion, suspicion, understanding and many more all marched across Hao's face.

"Who called you Demon?" Hao asked quietly.

"The kids back home, I never had any friends when I was young because they all knew about my family's reputation and were scared of me." Yoh answered quietly. "Sometimes they threw things at me."

"Why didn't you fight back?" Hao demanded.

"Because that would have given them a real reason to be afraid of me. As long as I didn't retaliate, they were wrong about me." Yoh replied. "When I went to Tokyo, I did make friends, and my first friend was Manta, who, if you recall, is human."

"That means nothing." Hao spat.

"You've blinded yourself to anything that doesn't fit your idea of what you believe the world is like." Yoh persisted. "Open your eyes, look around without all that hate clouding your vision." Hao huffed and looked away again. "I think I understand the root of your hatred though. It's your mother's death that started it."

"Hmph, shows what you know. I spent quite a bit of my life helping people, exorcising demons and spirits, so it couldn't have been that at all."

"Maybe you didn't let it get to you right away, but the memory was still inside, burning, sticking in your soul like a thorn and every time someone hurt you again, or you saw pain in other people that thorn grew bigger and the wound grew and grew until it couldn't be ignored anymore."

The look on Hao's face as Yoh spoke went from angry to shocked to almost frightened in a matter of seconds. Yoh knew from that look that he had hit the nail on the head, that he had finally gotten down to what had caused Hao's hate.

"Do you know why they hurt us, Hao?" Yoh asked gently.

"Because that's what humans do, they hurt each other and the world." Hao spat, but his heart wasn't in it.

"No, Hao, they hurt us because they're afraid, because they don't understand, and the animal instincts tell them to fight or flee and they choose to fight." Yoh explained patiently. "If you hurt them back, it only justifies their fears."

"What, you just expect me to let them run all over, ruining everything?" Hao growled.

"No, I agree things need to be changed, but I don't think destruction will do the job." Yoh replied.

"It would solve the problem." Hao argued.

"Not totally. A world born of hatred can never be free of it." Yoh pointed out. "And while shamans may have more respect for nature, they don't always have that kind of respect and acceptance for each other."

"What makes you say that?" Hao asked.

"The X-Laws attack anyone who doesn't follow their way of thinking." Yoh reminded him. "And if that's not enough remember what Lukka said about her mother. We're just as petty, just as nasty to those we think are different or wrong as anyone else. In order to change the world, we must first change ourselves."

Yoh looked Hao directly in the eyes as he spoke, seeing stubbornness and doubt warring in his dark eyes. He knew to push any harder would likely invoke Hao's wrath and decided it was time to go.

"I should go, Lukka will be wondering what kept me." He said quietly, turning away. As he headed through the trees Hao's voice rang out behind him.

"Tell her I said hello." Yoh turned back and smiled in reply before heading deeper into the forest again, letting Hao have the time to process his thoughts. His own mind was buzzing and the sight of Lukka waiting patiently for him helped him relax a little, as did the warm embrace and loving kiss she planted upon his lips.

"I'm so proud of you." She murmured against his skin. "I saw what you were doing with Hao."

"You saw?" Yoh asked in surprise.

"Up until Hao had his breakdown, then I left the two of you alone. It seemed like a private moment." She explained. "I can say that you two reminded me of when Silva holds me when I'm upset."

"So, we looked like siblings then?" Lukka smiled and nodded. "Well, it's a start. I don't know whether he'll decide to think about what I said or not, or if he'll just let hatred continue to rule him." Lukka placed her hands on his shoulders.

"The point is you have him listening to you, and that's the best place you can be." She cupped his cheeks and stared into his dark, soulful eyes. "You've proven that he's not just a mindless, evil monster, and because of that, you've given me hope for my future."

"You have so little faith in yourself and your people, Lukka." Yoh murmured.

"Can you blame me?" Lukka asked with an ironic lift of her brow.

"Not really, but you should have more faith in yourself. You're not going to turn into some hateful creature because of genetics." Yoh admonished gently. "You are Lukka, no one else, and anyone who says differently is just stupid." She smiled at him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You always know how to make a girl feel good, don't you?" She playfully teased before locking their lips together and allowing the real world to slip away for a few precious minutes.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	17. Chapter 17

Wolf: I own nothing!

Hao's mind was in torment. He didn't know how he felt any longer and no longer felt like he knew what to do with himself. His conversation, and breakdown, with Yoh had released something inside him, and instead of the anger that had been his constant companion for so long all he could feel was an aching, lonely emptiness.

He'd barely said a word to his followers all day, and he just knew they were wondering what was up with him, but even if he was inclined to share, he just didn't know what to say, he himself didn't even understand what was wrong with him. His one thought was that he should be angry at Yoh for doing this to him, but at the same time, he just felt tired of anger altogether.

He did not even go to watch the day's match, the X-laws against someone else. He was just too tired and the idea of having to act all superior in front of so many people just repulsed him. He stayed in, reading a book, too empty to care what all the other shamans would think when he wasn't in the audience. He just wanted to be alone, that's all, to try and sort himself out of the tangled mess his mind was in.

By nightfall there was no relief from the doubts and loneliness that plagued him, and as the night wore, there seemed to be no respite from his sleeplessness either. He tossed and turned, trying every trick to fall asleep and temporarily escape from his troubles, but nothing helped. He finally gave up and snuck out his window, padding towards the fountain in the village square.

His steps faltered and his heart inexplicably sank when the softly splashing fountain showed no silhouette against the star-studded sky. He walked slowly over, finding no dark, soulful eyes blinking at him in the night and sat down, uttering a soft sigh. It didn't feel right sitting there without Yoh pestering him.

He lifted his head at the sound of soft footsteps and felt a tiny flutter in his chest when his eyes were met with the sight of Yoh's gentle smile as he walked towards him. Yoh sat down beside him on the fountain wall, yawning slightly as he did so.

"I got the feeling I should be here." Yoh said to Hao's unvoiced question. Hao let Yoh watch him for a couple minutes, allowing Yoh the time to bring his disjointed thoughts together and completely wake up from the obviously deep sleep that the need to be in this spot had woke him up from.

"You seem a little... off tonight. And you weren't at the match today. The X-Laws think it was a complete snub, but you wouldn't miss a chance to get under their skin by sitting in the audience and smirking at everything they say or do." Yoh paused a moment, staring deep into Hao's eyes. "So, is there something you want to talk about?"

Hao was silent for a long while, debating whether to talk to Yoh. Yoh watched him, his eyes patient, just waiting for his decision, not looking like he expected anything, but hoping he would. Eventually Hao's thoughts drifted on to what to tell Yoh, and he was astounded that he'd made the leap from wanting to hold back to not knowing how to say the things he wanted to say. Yoh had drawn him in, and Hao was hard-pressed to feel vexed by the fact.

"Just... what if you're right?" He began slowly. "What do I do then?"

"Well, other than figure out another way to create a world without suffering..." Yoh trailed off, thinking, if the furrow in his brow was any indication.

"But how do I even accomplish that feat without destruction?" Hao asked, working himself out of his funk enough to feel exasperated.

"That I'm not too sure about, but I think we can figure it out together if need be." Yoh smiled. "But while we're doing that, I think what needs to happen is for you to find yourself happy again."

"How do I do that?" Hao sighed. "I haven't really been truly happy in the longest time." He was surprised that he had revealed that so easily, he nonetheless knew it to be true and that if anyone could remedy that, it would be Yoh.

"Well, what makes you feel happy?" Yoh asked. Hao looked at him for a moment and then up at the stars, contemplating the question.

"This." He finally stated. Yoh blinked and his head tilted slightly, not quite understanding Yoh's answer. "Having someone to talk to who's not going to agree with everything I say, and also isn't going to be going on about me being a monster the whole time either. Having someone that I know will always keep my secrets and never betray my trust, someone that maybe, perhaps I could call friend, or even, brother."

It was dark, but it wasn't dark enough to hide the blush of pleasure that quickly surged to Yoh's face. The younger Asakura looked down, fumbling for words to say in response to what Hao had said. When words wouldn't come, Yoh simply reached out with one arm and placed it around Hao's shoulders, drawing him into a one arm embrace.

For a brief moment Hao tensed, but the happiness he felt radiating off his brother made him relax just as quickly. He rested his head against Yoh's, feeling Yoh squirm slightly in joy at the tiny gesture. It was so easy to make Yoh feel good and Hao supposed that being able to enjoy the simple things in life made it easier for Yoh to feel happy.

"Well, that's a start." Yoh finally murmured. "Was there anything in your past that made you happy?" Hao thought about that for a moment while debating putting his own arm around Yoh's shoulders.

"Matamune." The softly spoken name made Yoh smile sadly and unconsciously touch the bear-claw necklace he wore at all times. Hao didn't know exactly what had happened with the two of them, but he knew that Yoh deeply cared for the cat spirit that had once upon a time been Hao's own pet and companion.

"I guess he would be someone who made you happy." Yoh murmured.

"I think it was the fact that I had someone who loved me and trusted me unconditionally that I liked while he was still alive, and then when he was a spirit, someone who understood me and that I could talk to. I guess I've found the latter part again."

"What about Opacho for the former?" Yoh asked. Hao shrugged uneasily.

"She idolizes me, like a god, and these days, fears me somewhat too." He sighed. "A pet would be nice, a cat perhaps, dogs are too goofy for my tastes."

"Kind of like me?" Yoh ventured, giving him a slightly ironic smile. Hao returned the smile hesitantly.

"Puppies have no cares in the world, you do, so you're not completely a puppy." He answered. "But aside from that, you are quite puppyish."

"You're more of a cat, independent, cool, collected and neat." Yoh replied. Hao hummed in agreement and then stood up. "What are you going to do now?"

"I'm not entirely sure." Hao sighed. "I still need some time to think." Yoh nodded his head and got up as well, heading in the opposite direction that Hao was to take, but not before giving him a quick, sneaky hug around the middle. Hao watched him go, a smile of bemusement on his face, and then, shaking his head, walked back to his own room, determined to get a little sleep.

%&%&%&%

"I want to get Hao a kitten." Lukka blinked in surprise at her lover's odd greeting. Her brow then furrowed as she realized exactly what he had said.

"Why do you want to give Hao a kitten?"

"He wants something to take care of, that will love him unconditionally." Yoh replied. "It makes him happy." Lukka only blinked in incomprehension. "I was talking to him, and it seems like he's ready to admit that humans don't need to be destroyed at all, but then I decided that he needed to work on being happy, and the idea of a pet came up."

"So, you want to get him a pet to help him along?" Lukka asked.

"Yes, and I want him to be happy." Yoh replied. Lukka hummed softly and then snapped her fingers, a grin lighting up her face.

"I think I can help with that."

%&%&%&%

Hao was staring up at the stars on the fountain wall when a small, furry something was dropped in his lap. He looked down into pale green eyes set into a black-furred face with long whiskers. The tiny creature mewed at him and promptly bit his thumb lightly, really only applying enough pressure to be felt, but not to hurt.

"Lukka named him Chomp, because his way of showing affection is giving you a little bite." Yoh explained as he sat down. Chomp batted playfully at Hao's curious hands and began to purr, a big sound for one so small. "You can change his name if you want."

"I think Chomp is a good name for this little fellow." Hao replied, scratching behind Chomp's ears. "He belonged to Lukka?"

"No, Lukka said he was one of the kittens of a feral cat that she was working to socialize." Yoh explained. "She offered him up when I mentioned that a pet made you happy."

"Do you tell her everything about our conversations?" Hao asked suspiciously.

"No, just as I don't tell you everything about our conversations." Yoh replied. "Do you want him? I mean it might look kind of odd for you to be toting around a kitten."

Hao watched as the tiny black kitten chewed on his thumb drowsily, all four paws wrapped around his gloved hand. Those paws may well have been wrapped around his heart because he just couldn't fathom letting go of this delightful little creature. Green eyes blinked sleepily as the loud purr just went on and on.

"I want him."

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Wolf: Review plz!


	18. Chapter 18

Wolf: I own nothing!

Hao could feel Chomp's purr against his chest as he walked along. His poncho had a pocket on the inside, and it was the perfect size for the little black kitten. It wasn't to hide his new kitten, it was to keep him close without keeping his hands occupied. He hadn't introduced the little bundle of fur to his followers, he was not sure what he was going to do about them, if he was no longer bent on the destruction of the human race, he didn't know how they would react.

He spent his night getting to know his new little friend. Chomp enjoyed the chicken and rice Hao had brought to him, and Hao discovered his little kitten had a talent for climbing, even making it onto the blades of the ceiling fan, though Hao had no idea how he accomplished that feat. Chomp had adopted him apparently, and would circle back to him while exploring to rub against him or give him an affectionate bite. For the first time in many, many years Hao fell asleep to the comforting sound of purring.

So here he was, not wanting to leave his little friend by himself in the house, and not wanting to expose him to trouble either. Since the poncho was rather loose around his form, no one could really see the little bulge that squirmed from time to time and mewed quietly. If anyone heard these quiet meows as he walked along he heard nothing of it, and because his hands could not be seen, he could pet and allow Chomp to play with his fingers as he pleased.

He headed into the forest, away from the crowds, with a small doggie bag of food for both him and his little friend. He walked off the path, heading for a particular batch of birch trees that he liked to sit under, away from the noise and prying eyes.

Suddenly a sharp sting made him slap his hand to his neck, wondering what had bitten him. It didn't hurt too much, so he kept walking, but presently he began to feel odd, his extremities slowly going numb. He tried to rub life back in his fingers, but the feeling spread until he crumpled onto his side, unable to move anything in his body. The ground slid away from his staring eyes as he was lifted up and carried away...

Lukka was sitting on her bed, reading her book, when a small something landed on her stomach, knocking the air out of her lungs. "What the hell?" She lifted her book and immediately had a frantic kitten attached to her face, mewing at the top of his little lungs. "Chomp? What are you doing here?"

Chomp gave her a sharp bite on the nose, and then scampered away, stopping at the door and looking back at her while still meowing. Lukka got up, frowning and moved towards the kitten. When she got to the door he ran further, to the front door this time and looked back at her with a meow.

"What's wrong with you, crazy cat?" She asked him, opening the door. He tugged at her pant-leg, urging her forwards. Lukka followed him, mystified, all the way to the council's headquarters in the cave under the cliffs that led to the Great Spirit. She carefully negotiated those hallways, she was not technically allowed to be there unless she had an escort, what they were worried about, she'd never know.

She pressed herself against the wall at the sound of voices. "How long does the venom have to keep him paralysed?" That was the voice of Kalim, Silva's friend, though even though he was Silva's best friend, he still didn't like her, and made the point clear with glares and comments if she tried to tag along with Silva and him.

"It should work for another half hour, enough time for us to find that spellbook again, I can't believe they misplaced it." Goldva sounded irritated.

"What's it going to do again?"

"It's going to eliminate his soul completely along with his body, so that he is simply erased from existence." Lukka put her hand over her mouth to stifle a gasp of surprise and horror. To erase a soul from existence was so final, who could they have that they wanted to do that? She peeked cautiously around the corner and sucked in a shocked breath.

Lying in the middle of what looked like a pentagram, spread eagled and naked but for his pants was none other than Hao. He was unmoving, his eyes staring up blankly, not even able to blink. Lukka turned away and sank down to the floor, mind in a turmoil. They had found a way to get rid of Hao once and for all. Once upon a time that would have made her happy, but after being able to see through Yoh's eyes, and seeing the man he could be, she was simply appalled.

She had to do something. She stood up again and peered around the corner. She needed to get Goldva and Kalim away, even for just a few moments. A large carving in the darkness of the hallway opposite the large cavern she was looking into caught her eye. She concentrated carefully, materializing the Spirit of Water just enough beside the carving to tip it over with a loud resounding bang.

The two Patch shot up and ran to see what had happened. Lukka disengaged the Spirit of Water and ran into the cavern, gripping Hao around the waist and vanishing before anyone could find her. She reappeared before a very surprised Yoh, Chomp perched precariously on her head.

"Lukka? What's going on? Is that Hao?" Yoh asked in rapid succession, standing up.

"Yes, I can't explain, if I'm not in my room when they come looking they'll suspect me." Lukka replied hurriedly. "Take care of him for me? The paralysis should wear off soon, or so they said."

"Yes, but-" Yoh caught Hao as Lukka handed his limp body over. Lukka gave him a quick peck on the cheek and then vanished again. Yoh looked down at his brother's bent head and then hauled him over to the nearest tree, sitting down and settling Hao down so that his back was resting against Yoh's chest. Yoh wrapped his arms around his brother and took one of his hands in his. He wasn't sure if Hao could feel it at all, or even see it, but he hoped that it would bring some comfort.

Chomp settled himself on Hao's lap and began to knead while purring softly. "I think he's trying to make you feel better." Yoh murmured. Hao gave no sign that he heard, but that was only because he was paralyzed. "Must be scary for you to not be able to move like this huh? Who did it, Lukka seemed nervous about being caught...oh."

Hao could just about feel the cogs working in Yoh's head and he wished that he could close his eyes, they were starting to water. The sensation of Yoh rubbing his thumb against his hand felt muted, almost pins-and-needles like. In fact he was starting to get pins-and-needles in his toes and fingertips, hopefully meaning that he was regaining some control of his body.

"I guess you know now that the Patch have it in for you." Yoh finally said quietly. Hao felt the weight of Yoh's head rest against the top of his and heard him sigh. "I just hope Lukka got back okay and that she's not going to get into any trouble. Guess you're going to have to watch your back more carefully from now on too." Yoh mused.

Chomp took notice of Yoh's hand clasped in Hao's and pawed at them. Yoh looked down and giggled. Big green eyes blinked up at him before Chomp lightly bit his knuckle and then rubbed his face against the clasped hands, still purring up a storm.

"Well, what do you know, he likes me too. Seems to be really attached to you though." Yoh muttered, watching the tiny kitten settle back down in Hao's lap. Hao found that he had feeling in his hands and feet back and gently closed his fingers around Yoh's hand, squeezing gently. Yoh looked down at him in surprise and then delight.

"You're regaining feeling, that's good!" He cried. Hao blinked at him. "Oh, that's even better. Can you talk too?"

Hao didn't know if he could, but he decided to give it a try all the same. All that escaped his throat was a rusty sort of coughing noise the first time. The second time he managed to lick his lips and voice a sound not unlike a kitten like his little Chomp. The third time seemed to be the charm.

"Th-thank you, Yoh." He managed to croak out. Yoh's arms tightened around him in a warm hug.

"You don't have to thank me for anything." Yoh replied happily. A sudden bang of displaced air drew their attention and Hao stared in surprise at Lukka, finally able to see her in her entirety for the first time. He struggled into a sitting position. "Easy, don't tax yourself." Hao ignored his brother's warnings and crossed his legs, staring critically at the enigmatic woman that had captured Yoh's heart and eluded Hao's best efforts to find out who she was.

She was wearing a blue tube top and a pair of ripped jeans with no shoes of course. His eyes found the starburst scar on her collarbone that Yoh so loved before slowly making their way up to her face for the second time, unable to believe what he was seeing. She looked almost exactly like him, almost as though she were some kind of copy. It was not natural.

"Who are you exactly, Lukka?" He whispered. She gazed back at him with unreadable black eyes, her blank expression so like the one he wore most of the time that he was unnerved. The spell was broken when she smiled half-heartedly, her eyes betraying a mixture of trepidation and bitterness.

"I suppose it is time to come clean." She sighed. She sat down on the grass and folded her legs beneath her. Hao sat, watching her, waiting for her to begin.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	19. Chapter 19

Wolf: I own nothing!

"I am not an ordinary Patch; I suppose you can already tell that." Hao nodded his head, not saying a word, just letting her figure out what she was trying to say. "I wasn't conceived, I was created. I am a female clone, created from the DNA of your body from 500 years ago."

"Wait, you're saying that you're me?" Hao interrupted, too surprised to keep quiet.

"Genetically, yes." Lukka replied.

"Which begs the next question, why did they create you?" Hao asked.

"To destroy you, of course." Lukka answered calmly. Hao gazed at her, mouth open in shock. "The Patch-Hao all but destroyed the Patch's reputation, they were shamed and they wanted a chance to make that right, but they couldn't do that without someone as strong as you are." She went on. "I was born from hatred, and that marks me every day of my life."

"So, why didn't you let them kill me?" Hao asked quietly. "You would have been free of that fate."

"I'd never be completely free. I'm an outcast in my own people because every time they look at me, they see you." Lukka said in a condescending tone. "But, I didn't let them kill you, because Yoh showed me a different way, and that you could be a different man. I wanted you to change, because to me it meant that my life could change too." A small sob made her voice catch at the end.

"So not only have I hurt Yoh by association, but I have hurt you as well." Hao stated. Lukka bit her lip and nodded her head. Hao sighed quietly. "I never realized just how far my influence went, but the X-Laws would not have attacked Yoh if not for me, and he would not be forced into a destiny that he didn't want if not for me."

"But if it wasn't for you, Lukka would never have existed." Yoh mentioned quietly. Hao gave him a look of surprise. "And if when we were born your spirit hadn't come for you so quick, I wouldn't be here either. So, in some way, we both owe you our lives."

"A few weeks ago I would have used that revelation in order to convince you that you belonged on my side, but today..." He trailed off, gazing at the two of them, his face softening. "You both saved me, and that means that we are now even."

"You've come a long way, Hao." Yoh said softly. "I'm proud of you." A faint smile hovered on Hao's lips.

"You need to watch your back more carefully than ever now." Lukka warned. "The Patch have found a way to obliterate a soul completely." She explained to Yoh, who gasped in shock. "If it wasn't for Chomp coming and finding me, I wouldn't have gotten there in time. He's really attached to you."

Hao watched his kitten chewing on his belt buckle. "I know." He chuckled slightly. "He's a crazy little thing, and I love him. Thank you for offering him, Lukka." She smiled at him slightly.

"I can't say no to this face." She replied playfully, rubbing her nose against Yoh's. "We both wanted for you to see, how could I say no to something that would help?" She sighed softly. "I should go, they'll be going crazy as is, and I don't think my absence will help matters."

"Hey, Lukka, if you ever feel like you can't deal with things there anymore, my door is open." Lukka looked at him in surprise.

"That's... kind of you Hao; I'll keep it in mind." She said slowly. She then vanished quickly, leaving the twins alone.

"It would probably be wise for us to leave as well. You don't want your friends to worry." Hao said softly. Yoh nodded his head and gently reached out to scratch Chomp's ears before resting his hand on top of Hao's.

"I'm glad you're ok." Yoh said softly. "Come on, I'll show you how to get in and out of this place. You can visit with me and Lukka any time then."

"I'd like that." Hao responded, holding Chomp carefully in one hand as he stood up. Yoh and Hao walked side-by-side and Hao marvelled at the natural barrier of prickle bushes and rocks that hid Yoh's special place from the outside world.

"I think we should part ways from here on out." Hao stated when they got close to the path. Yoh gave him a baffled look.

"How come?" He asked. Hao smiled at him, a gentle, kind smile the likes of which Yoh had never seen on Hao's face, ever.

"Because, think of how it would look if we all the sudden were to stroll into town, practically rubbing elbows. You already have people who believe that you are simply my pawn; don't give them reason to think that." Hao said.

"But you're not the same person anymore." Yoh declared.

"You know that, but they don't know it, and I doubt they would believe or accept it even if you or I did say it." Hao replied. "There are certain people who are blind to anything but their own thoughts of revenge. You've already been made their target and I... I don't want you to become a bigger one."

"I understand." Yoh sighed. "You seem to be taking to the role of big brother well." He pointed out. Hao blinked in surprise and felt his ears go red. He'd never intended to start caring about Yoh, then again he never intended on letting himself be drawn away from his goal. Yoh started walking away, but not before throwing his arms around Hao and giving him a massive bearhug. Hao was stunned for a moment and could only stare as his brother jogged down the path.

A tug on his bangs made him look down at Chomp, who let out an inquiring mew. "Oh, just thinking about the last several weeks." Hao said. "Not sure when I really started to care about Yoh. Maybe it was finally getting to know the real him, instead of holding him at a distance that did it. You can't really be frigid to someone if you know them, and they're likable, now can you?" Chomp cocked his head at him. "I suppose what really was endearing about Yoh was that he simply wanted to talk to me, he didn't really want anything else, not in those moments, and he just talked to me like I was just another person. I don't get people like that, they're either too afraid, too in awe, or too furious at me to consider that I might need a little human interaction myself sometimes."

He sighed and stroked Chomp's tiny head, thankful for the tiny creature. He and Yoh brought joy back into his life, where previously there had been all anger and cold calculation. The tears he had cried for his mother had broken the walls he had made around his heart, and though sometimes the emotions he felt were hard to bear, they were also wonderful, something he had forgotten in so many years.

"It's good to feel something other than anger for once." He sighed.

%&%&%&%

Yoh walked in his house and was beset by his grandfather. "What is this I hear from Anna that you are being rebellious and rude to her?" He demanded. Looking beyond him Yoh could see his whole family seated in the sitting room.

"Did she also tell you how she expects me to train in suicidal amounts, or how she slaps me for even saying anything that could be taken as contradictory to what she has said?" Yoh demanded. Yoh's family was silent. Keiko had her hands over her mouth.

"She hits you?" She whispered.

"Usually at least once a day." Yoh replied dismally. "Usually for something inane."

"I find that hard to believe." Yohmei growled.

"I do not." Kino interjected. "Anna has always shown little regard for others' feelings, and a very physical approach to getting what she wants. I did warn you that she may not be the right match for our gentle Yoh, but you men know better, don't you?" Yoh could hear the derisive tone in his grandmother's voice.

"Anna is a powerful itako and the right age, what more could you want from a bride?" Yohmei demanded.

"How about compassion? Or respect?" Yoh snapped. "She treats me like her own personal slave, making me do all the work while she lies around."

"You are not doing this Yoh!" Yohmei growled. "You will do as your told, I am the head of this family-"

"Maybe so," Yoh interrupted. "But you don't own me, and it's my life, I will choose the path that feels right to me." Yohmei looked outraged, Mikihisa... who knows, Keiko looked surprised and almost proud, and Kino was smiling.

"You've grown, Yoh." She said approvingly. "You've gained confidence in yourself and I don't see any reason that he shouldn't be able to choose the one he shares his life with."

"And what of Anna?" Yoh asked, not wanting to be married to her, but kind enough to not want to see her thrown out in the streets.

"She is still my ward until she is legally an adult. I can take her back with me and attempt again to instil some manners in her."

Yoh smiled and went upstairs to his room. His problems with Anna were out of the way, Hao had changed. The world was looking a little brighter for all of them. Maybe he could tempt Lukka into meeting his family, and even coming back with him at the end of the tournament. What he would give to see his grandfather's face when he found out Lukka's power rivalled even Hao's.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	20. Chapter 20

Wolf: I own nothing!

Silva walked the streets of the hidden Patch town, wondering at the events of the previous day. First Goldva was excited because they had finally found the spell to get rid of Hao once and for all, and then all the Patch were running around in a panic because somehow Hao had gotten away, even though completely paralysed and unable to do anything. It was certainly a strange day and it was barely after noon.

He shook his head and decided to check up on Lukka.In all the chaos of yesterday he had neglected to even say hello to her, something which she probably was very unhappy about, to say the least. He headed to their little house and found her sitting in her room, reading yet another book.

"Hey, Lukka." She looked up and smiled slightly, but it was a cooler smile than what he was used to, and it seemed somewhat distracted.

"Are you ok?" He asked. She shrugged her shoulders, not looking up from her book. "Look, I know I didn't say hello even before now, but we had a problem and we thought we had a way to completely erase Hao from existence, forever, and, well, it didn't happen, but isn't that good news? You may not have to go up against him."

"I'm not so sure being able to erase someone from existence is something to be happy about." Lukka said slowly. "You really would consider something so final?"

"What do you mean, Lukka? This is Hao we're talking about, if anyone deserves to be erased, it's him." Silva replied.

"Deserves..." Lukka repeated the word slowly, looking as though she were swallowing some awful tasting medicine. "I don't think anyone, no matter what they've done, deserves that kind of punishment."

"What's gotten into you, Lukka?" Silva said and then paused as a strange, awful idea occurred to him. "Lukka, we had Hao, and then he got away, but he was completely paralysed at the time, so he couldn't really have gotten away by himself, and no one saw anyone from outside the village here. Did you do something?"

The look that Lukka gave him was less than reassuring, as were her next words. "Do you really want the truth, or do you want me to lie to make you feel better?"

Silva's mind went blank and all he could feel was a mute horror. He turned and simply fled the room.

Lukka watched him go, just as frozen as her brother had felt. That hadn't gone as planned, and now she was calling herself seven kinds of idiot for coming out with it like that, which now seemed like a very threatening way to say it. It took her a couple minutes to snap out of it, and when she did she realized she should probably go after him.

She was only two steps out the door when her way was blocked by all the Patch officials, including Goldva. She stopped dead, seeing the angry, determined, scared expressions on their faces as she looked to each of them. Her eyes rested on Silva, her brother, and she saw wild panic in his dark eyes. Anger, confusion and pain welled up inside her and she just wanted to scream at Silva.

"We knew this might come." Goldva said in a resigned voice.

"Then why bother at all?" Lukka demanded angrily. "You think that I like this half-life you gave me, that I wanted to be the harbinger of doom? I WISH I WAS NEVER BORN AT ALL YOU HYPOCRITICAL BOORS!"

Strands of furyiochu spun out from each of the officials, grabbing on to her. Lukka's temper snapped and she summoned the Spirit of Rain to break free of all of them and lift her away. She glowered down, unaware that tears were running down her face. She stared in particular at Silva, who stared back wide-eyed. Anger turned to grief as she looked on her brother.

"You told me that you would protect me." She cried to him. "I thought you loved me?" With those words she vanished completely.

%&%&%&%

"Hey." Yoh turned at Hao's voice. "You headed for the clearing?" Yoh nodded his head. "Mind if I join you?"

"Of course you can join me." Yoh replied, reaching out to pat Chomp's furry ears. The kitten was balanced on Hao's shoulder, digging his claws into the poncho occasionally as Hao shifted. "You're a funny little thing." Yoh informed the kitten when he bit his knuckle. Hao chuckled and nodded in agreement. The two of them walked together in companionable silence.

"I have to thank you, Yoh." Hao said after a few minutes.

"For what?" Yoh asked, shaking his head to dislodge a fallen leaf from his hair.

"I haven't been so at peace with myself and the world for a thousand years." Hao replied, reaching out to pluck the stubborn leaf from Yoh's hair. Yoh smiled at him in thanks.

"I'm glad that things have worked out so well." Hao smiled and didn't remind Yoh that their problems were far from over. He just let Yoh have his moment of happiness. The two of them walked through the barrier into the clearing. Hao let out a small sigh. He hadn't gotten a chance to truly appreciate the beauty and serenity of the little space.

The peace was shattered in the next instant by the appearance of Lukka. The girl's face was stained by tears and her eyes stared glassily through them, unfocused and filled with anguish. All the sudden she threw back her head and let out a scream of agony and anger that was piercing and haunting all at once. To Yoh it sounded like some animal in terrible, mortal agony, the death-song of the wild.

Yoh was up in an instant, rushing over and gripping Lukka's shoulders. "Lukka! Lukka, what's wrong?" He asked, cupping her cheeks and trying to bring her back to earth. She just stared at him with hopeless eyes and uttered a faint whimper, collapsing against him and voicing soft sobs of anguish. Yoh sat down on the ground and gently held her, stroking her hair soothingly.

"She's lost something very important to her, perhaps her brother." Hao said quietly, kneeling beside the two of them.

"How can you be sure?" Yoh asked.

"I've heard that sound before, coming from my own mouth on the day my mother was killed." Hao answered. "It's the sound of loss, of utter and complete devastation." Yoh tightened his hold on Lukka and whispered softly to her, tender words he hoped would calm her down. Eventually her cries died down to soft sniffles.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Yoh asked gently. She snuffled and rested her head against Yoh's shoulder. She quietly explained to them what had just happened. Yoh felt tears prick his eyes, he knew how she adored her older brother, and trusted him so deeply. Hao only understood that Silva was the only family that she had, and he had taken that away from her. Familiar, boiling anger bubbled up inside him, but instead of letting it take control he kept it in check, but knew that he would do something sooner or later, he just hoped that it wouldn't be something he would regret.

He wandered over and put his hand on Yoh's shoulder. "I need to go for a little bit, I'll be back, but you need to stay, she needs you." He whispered in his brother's ear, setting Chomp down on Yoh's lap.

"I know that aniki, I'm all she has left now." Yoh whispered back.

"She can have me too, if she wants it." Hao said just loud enough for the two of them to hear before disappearing and reappearing just inside the forest. He stalked into the village, intent on finding a certain Patch official. Pretty much everyone stayed out of his way, seeing the dark look on his face; they probably thought he was going to kill someone.

He found Silva in one of the cafes ringing the village square. There was hardly anyone in the cafe, and at his look, the rest of the patrons cleared out. He walked over to the counter where Silva was standing, half-heartedly cleaning out a glass, and in a single swift motion grabbed the man's collar, twisting it and bringing Silva's face to his.

Silva yelped and tried to pull away, but Hao's grip only tightened. "Are you proud of yourself?" Hao hissed. "Was your affection for her all a lie from the start?"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." Silva stuttered, eyes darting around, looking for an escape.

"I think you do, but let me remind you." Hao growled. "I'm talking about your sister, the one that's currently bawling her eyes out with my brother because her brother decided he didn't trust her enough."

Silva flinched and looked away. "Lukka..." He whispered.

"Ahh, so you do remember the one you betrayed." Hao said condescendingly. Silva's eyes refused to meet his. "She trusted you, she believed you would protect her, love her, she believed that you were different from the rest of them. But in the end, you really weren't, were you?"

He let go of Silva and stalked off again, not bothering to look back. He wasn't going to waste any more time. There were things to do, and a frightened, tormented girl to try and figure out what to do with now.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	21. Chapter 21

Wolf: I own nothing!

Yoh heard the sound of Hao returning to the clearing, but didn't look up. Lukka had started crying again after Hao left, and he was busy trying to calm her down to acknowledge his brother's presence. A hand touched his shoulder and his eyes shifted to the left. Hao's eyes stared back; they were a little angry, but most of the anger had dissipated, to Yoh's relief, and mostly there was concern.

"Sorry, I had something I needed to get off my chest." Hao explained. Yoh smiled and nodded his head.

"You came back?" Lukka asked in surprise when she looked up, wiping tears from her cheeks. "Why?"

"I wanted to make sure you were going to be ok." Hao answered softly.

"Huh, would have thought you'd consider me weak for carrying on like this." Lukka said in a dull, self-deprecating tone.

"Once upon a time I lost my only family as well. I didn't allow myself to grieve like you are, and I think that's where my troubles began, because when I finally allowed myself to grieve I was able to find some peace." Hao replied. "Maybe once I would have called it weakness, but not anymore."

"Well, thanks, I guess." Lukka untangled herself from Yoh and wiped her face completely clean. She sighed despondently. "I don't know what I'm going to do now." She said miserably.

"Well, for starters I don't think you want to stay here the rest of your days, so you should either come and live with me, or Yoh." Hao offered. "Either way we'll be able to protect you." She laughed slightly.

"I don't really need protection from them, I can handle them."

"Unless you get hit with a dart." Hao reminded her, which she made a face at him for.

"It's not just protection, you need companionship as well, and I want to be able to keep an eye on you." Yoh added. Lukka smiled and leaned over to give him a kiss.

"I don't want you putting yourself in danger for me." She said in reply. He shrugged.

"I'm already in danger from the X-Laws, so I don't see it as much of a problem." Lukka frowned slightly at his reasoning. "Look, I'm not leaving this clearing until you agree to live with one of us for the time being." Lukka smiled slightly at the two of them when they gave her identical stubborn frowns.

"Alright, I guess I don't have much of a choice then, do I?" She stated. Yoh helped her to her feet and then embraced her again, running his fingers through her long dark hair.

"I'll take you home with me, and we'll figure out how to explain everything. I think it's time I told my friends and family what I've been up to." He sighed and rubbed his head. "I don't think my grandfather's going to take any of this very well."

"What about the rest of your family?" Hao asked, placing Chomp back on his shoulder.

"I'm not really sure. I can never tell what my father is thinking, and both my mother and grandmother seem to approve of my independence, but I don't know how they'll react to this." Yoh replied.

"Why don't you wait a little bit, allow Lukka to settle in, and then we can all try to explain it to them together. It may help to see me acting in the manner that you describe." Hao offered. "And also if they don't react well, I'll be there to get you both out of trouble."

"You think we can't handle ourselves?" Lukka asked sarcastically. Hao opened his mouth, but then thought better of his snappy retort.

"I just want to make sure you'll both be alright." He said gently instead. Her dark eyes softened a touch and she nodded her head, threading her arm through Yoh's. Hao took up a post on the other side of Lukka, so that the twins flanked her as they walked along. The walk out of the clearing was very quiet, each of them lost in their own thoughts.

Yoh was trying to decide how exactly to introduce Lukka without saying too much until they could get Hao to help them explain. Hao was considering his way of telling his followers that it was over, and wondering at their reactions. Lukka was lost in the memories of her brother and wondering if it had all just been a lie this whole time.

As they wandered on to the path, their individual musings were interrupted by the sight of Ren walking towards them. Lukka felt Yoh tense against her and instinctively tensed as well. She knew from her observations that Ren could be hot-headed and sometimes didn't think beyond what he initially saw. She had a quick peek into his mind and found a little bit of wariness, but an unwavering trust in Yoh as well.

"Well, I have a feeling this will be an interesting story." Ren finally said calmly as he looked at the three of them. "And you are?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at Lukka.

"Lukka." She replied shortly.

"Look, Ren, can you come to the house and I'll explain this all when everyone is around?" Yoh asked. Ren gave him a sharp look and then after a moment nodded his assent. Hao briefly rested his hand on Lukka's shoulder before disappearing.

"I know how this must look-" Yoh was cut off by Ren putting up a hand.

"If there's one thing I've learned while with you it is that I can trust you, no matter how crazy you're ideas seem." He said quietly. Yoh smiled slightly.

"Thanks Ren, that means a lot coming from you." He breathed, relaxing a little bit.

"I'm going to assume she is the reason you keep sneaking off." Ren stated. Yoh gave him a sheepish look in reply. "What is Anna going to have to say about this?"

"The engagement has been broken, it doesn't matter what the bitch says, and if she goes after Yoh, I'm going to punch her." Lukka snapped. Ren raised an eyebrow at her as Yoh quietly asked her to simmer down.

"Picked a feisty one, I see." He stated simply. "I guess I'll head back with you two." The three of them walked along in silence. Lukka could feel Ren's curiosity about her, but after some time closed her mind, not needing other people's thoughts adding to the burden of her own tortured feelings. She gulped back fresh tears, stubbornly refusing to cry in public. They avoided the main streets and let themselves in the back door of Yoh's house.

"Where have you been?" Yohmei demanded. "And who is that?" He snarled, pointing at Lukka, who's eyes narrowed in challenge.

"This is Lukka, she got into some trouble, and she needs a place to stay." Yoh explained, staying as close to the truth as he could without getting into anything about Hao.

"Am I to understand that this is the reason you have rejected the arrangement to Anna?" Yohmei growled out. Yoh was close enough to hear the soft answering growl rumbling in Lukka's throat. He touched her hand gently, stilling her for the moment, and turned his steady gaze on his grandfather.

"I didn't need her to know that Anna would never be right for me, that I could not marry her. Lukka merely gave me the courage to forge my own path instead of constantly following the one laid out for me." Yoh explained gently but firmly.

"Lukka, is that your name?" Keiko's voice sounded behind them, but Lukka was the one to turn and regard her with an intense stare.

"Yes, I am Lukka." She answered quietly. There was no hostility in Keiko's mind, and the gentleness of her thoughts reminded Lukka enough of Yoh to make her relax a little bit. Keiko gave her a serious look.

"Do you love Yoh?" Her question was quietly spoken, but the words were fierce and powerful. Lukka gazed straight into her eyes, knowing to look away would be seen as indication of falsehood.

"I love and trust him with all my heart, I would not have done all the things I have if not." Lukka replied, conviction in her voice. Keiko searched her eyes for a long moment before her countenance softened and she nodded her head.

"We'll have to get you set up with a room in the house. Will you come back to Japan with us when the time comes?" Keiko asked.

"Keiko, you can't honestly think that she can replace the arrangement with Anna, can you? Look at her!" Yohmei cried.

"Perhaps you should have a better look." Kino stated, hobbling up behind her husband. "I don't have to see to feel the sheer amount of power this girl radiates. And I already said that Anna wasn't good for Yoh, let him make his own choices for once."

"I'm being ganged up on." Yohmei said in disbelief.

"Something I think we should have done years ago." Kino sniffed. "Sometimes I even think that Yoh's the only male in this family with any brains." She muttered. Lukka let out a small chuckle at her words.

"She's crotchety, I like her." She murmured to Yoh. She yelped as Kino's walking stick lightly rapped against her knees. Kino had a smile on her face though as she spoke.

"I heard that missy."

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Wolf: Review plz!


	22. Chapter 22

Wolf: I own nothing!

Lukka wandered about after she was settled into a room in the Asakura house. She hadn't gotten far when a furious blonde-haired banshee stepped in her path, brown eyes blazing hate. Lukka folded her arms and showed Anna a bland face, waiting. She didn't have to wait long.

"You stole Yoh from me!" Anna shrieked. "You horrible witch, how did you bewitch him?"

"All I did was offer the affection he so desperately craved." Lukka replied.

"He is supposed to be mine!" Anna yelled. Lukka just looked at her, her bland expression not changing a bit.

"See, it's that kind of attitude that is the reason you lost him." She stated. "You treat him like a possession, a slave, and expect that he'll stay with you when someone who understands him and loves him for who he is comes around? Little girl, you are delusional with a capital D."

"Love." Anna spat. "You just are looking to ally yourself with one of the most powerful shamanic families in the world."

"Up until today I wasn't sure if I was going to survive past my next birthday, and I'm still not sure. Why would I make such plans? I simply wanted to know what love was like, at least once in my life, and he wanted the same. Too bad for you he gained the courage to finally stand up to your abuse."

"All this love nonsense makes me sick, Yoh and I were supposed to be together, does that mean nothing to you?" Anna growled.

"No, it doesn't. You treat him with no respect, and had he stayed with you in some way or another you would have been the death of him." Lukka replied. "You stopped meaning anything to me the first time I saw you hit him for no reason. Now go away girl, before I do something I may or may not regret." She dropped the blank face to show Anna a fierce scowl. Apparently the look unnerved Anna, because she turned and fled.

Lukka shook her head and continued her wandering. Some of Yoh's friends gave her curious glances as she walked by, but none of them spoke to her. She picked up from their minds that Yoh had asked them to give her some space for the first little while and smiled to herself, happy her lover was such a thoughtful creature.

She decided to go outside, just in the back of the house where no one could see from the streets. She didn't want to run the risk of having one of the Patch see her and try to take her back to Goldva, or kill her. She sat down on the back step and sighed dully, feeling fresh tears prick at her eyes.

"Everything go ok?" Lukka quickly wiped away her tears and looked up at Hao.

"Yeah, Yohmei wasn't too happy about me being there, but the rest of Yoh's family seemed ok with it." Lukka answered.

"What about Anna?" Lukka shrugged.

"I had words with her, but she doesn't scare me." Lukka sniffed. "She only has power if I give her that power. I'm glad that Yoh learned that." Hao nodded in agreement. Lukka smiled at the sight of Chomp cradled in one of Hao's large hands, the other absently combing through his short fur. Chomp of course was chewing on Hao's thumb while purring up a storm. "How are things with you?"

"I told my followers that I was no longer going to destroy humanity." Hao revealed. "Most of them left, searching for new direction, the Hanagumi girls, Opacho and Luchist stayed. They were always the most loyal." Lukka nodded her head, reaching out to pa Chomp's little head.

"What are you doing?" Lukka rolled her eyes at the growl in Yohmei's voice. She turned to look as the rest of the house's occupants came out, drawn by the cooling evening air or the sound of voices. Yoh's friends stared in surprise and horror, while Yoh simply sat down next to Lukka and smiled up at Hao.

"Good evening Hao." Hao nodded in reply, allowing a small smile to grace his face.

"What's going on, Yoh?" Horohoro asked nervously. Yoh gave Hao and Lukka a look, they both nodded.

"I think I'll let Lukka begin, and you all might want to sit, this may take some time to explain." Lukka waited while Yoh's family and friends settled in. Hao sat down on the other side of her, so that the twins were flanking her, enclosing her in a sort of protective barrier.

"I am a clone, created from the DNA of the Patch-Hao from 500 years ago." She said softly. "I was meant to destroy Hao, if all else failed to prevent him from becoming Shaman King."

"So why haven't you destroyed him?" Anna demanded. "He's sitting right beside you, you could have done it now."

"I've been doubting my 'destiny' for some time. They wanted him dead because there was no way to reason with him, there was no other way to stop him because he was simply a monster. If that was the truth, what did that make me?" Her words were met with silence. "Though, I couldn't see another way until Yoh came into my life." Yoh shifted and realized that it was his turn to talk.

"I didn't do much besides talking to Hao." He started. "I wanted to understand him, to try to unravel the anger he felt at the human race. I wanted to save him from himself. So I talked to him, in the cafe, on the street, after matches, even at night when neither of us could sleep. Eventually, he came to trust me, and understand humanity the way I do."

"Are you trying to say you tamed the monster, by talking to him?" Yohmei snarled in disbelief. "Impossible."

"Impossible as it may sound, and even I think it sounds that way, it's true." Hao stated, ignoring the flinches that came with the sound of his voice. "I suppressed a lot of bad feelings, and memories from my past, and that stayed with me, growing more and more painful until it just popped and... I think I went a little crazy, looking back on it now. Talking to Yoh allowed me to finally work through my feelings, and come to terms with them."

"I was watching all of this happen, and the fact that Yoh could change the mind of a man who had been hell-bent on the destruction of the human race for a thousand years gave me hope that I could change my own destiny, if I tried hard enough. I felt even enough hope for Hao that I saved him from the Patch when they captured him yesterday in preparation to obliterate his soul."

"Seems awfully final a solution for shamans that are meant to be neutral." Ren stated. "I'm not sure anyone deserves to be completely erased from existence."

"That's what I thought, and I knew that in spite of what Hao had done, he had changed, and he could try and atone for what he had done, so I saved him." Lukka sighed. "My brother, Silva found out earlier today what I had done, and then the Patch all tried to kill me. I guess you can figure out that is the reason I can't go back home."

Lukka put her head in her hands and let out a small sob. Yoh put an arm around her shoulders, and Hao placed Chomp in her lap, where he purred and rubbed against her legs, trying to calm her. Seeing the small gesture, most of Yoh's friends' faces relaxed, but his family still looked worried, and in Yohmei's case, angry.

"I was once like Hao, not caring at all about people, and, even spirits, but Yoh showed me a different way of looking at the world. Why couldn't he do it for Hao too?" Ren finally said quietly. Horohoro and Ryu nodded in agreement. Kino looked almost proud, if the little smirk on her face was anything to go by. Keiko had a serious look on her face, and she was staring directly at Hao.

Slowly she moved forwards until she was standing directly in front of Hao. Hao gave her a puzzled and slightly uneasy look. She stared down into his eyes and, after the longest time, smiled and knelt down, cupping his face in her hands and gently kissing his forehead. Lukka saw that and let out a small despondent sigh, looking down at her hands sadly.

Keiko apparently didn't miss that, and knelt down in front of Lukka. She tilted up her chin with one finger and stared into her grief-clouded black eyes. "I always wanted a daughter." Lukka stared at her, eyes brightening a little bit. Then they clouded over again with wariness.

"I'm not sure I'm ready to think about family right now." She murmured. Keiko nodded.

"Fair enough." Hao sighed and stood up.

"I should go, I made the mistake of informing Kanna that I had nearly been destroyed, and she told the rest of them, and now they're all on high alert, so I shouldn't be gone too long or they'll worry." Yoh chuckled.

"Seems odd that they're worrying about you, doesn't it?" Hao grinned slightly.

"I've discovered that Kanna can be a mother hen, she wouldn't stop scolding me when she found out about it. She stopped for a moment when she realized who she was talking to, but started up again when she saw I wasn't going to do anything about it." He started walking off, pausing only to lift Chomp onto his shoulder. They all watched him until he was gone from sight, silent and wondering.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	23. Chapter 23

Wolf: I own nothing!

Lukka's mind was open, monitoring the reactions of Yoh's friends and family. She wanted to get Yoh out of there quick if they decided to attack. His friends seemed to be taking it in stride, though they were still fairly gobsmacked, but Lukka was getting some pretty homicidal thoughts from Yoh's grandfather.

"Well, now we know how Lukka got so powerful." Kino stated calmly. "Quit your simmering old man, I've been saying for years there's got to be a better way to stop Hao than killing him and letting him get even more powerful next time around."

"It was the only way." Mikihisa said, speaking for the first time.

"It was the only way you could think of." Lukka countered. "Yoh thought of a different way, because he still thought of Hao as human, and not just a monster unable to be saved."

"We're all guilty of that, and I suppose I shouldn't have been." Ren murmured. "People must have thought of me the same way, and I'm eternally grateful that Yoh did not."

"There's nothing to thank." Yoh replied quietly with a smile. "I only did what I felt was right."

"As you obviously did with Hao, though, dude, I didn't think you had the courage to go one on one with him, even if it was just talking, I mean, he must have wanted to kill you after you tried to kill him." Horohoro said. "But, I guess if you have the courage to tell Anna to stuff it..." He flinched when Anna levelled a withering glare at him.

"I think that Yoh's been brainwashed, by both Hao and this little hussy of his." Lukka shot Anna a poisonous look.

"There's no brainwashing involved, and if it has, it's Hao that's been brainwashed." Kino snapped crankily. "I can hear it in his voice; he's a lot... saner now."

"He looked saner too." Faust supplied thoughtfully from the doorway. "And his speech was a lot gentler than I've ever heard it."

"You're all mad!" Yohmei cried. "You can't seriously be forgetting all that he's done!"

"No, we haven't, but we understand that forgiveness can heal a wounded soul, and if Hao is willing to try and atone for the things he's done, well, I believe he should be allowed to." Ren said thoughtfully. "Remember I was once not so different from him."

"Take away the anger and all you have left is a scared little boy left all alone in a world that seemed to view his kind as just monsters." Yoh added quietly. "I'm not saying that what he's done should be forgotten, but I will support his effort to make something new of himself."

"As will I." Lukka stated. The rest of Yoh's friends either nodded or looked somewhat confused and encouraging at the same time. The only ones that seemed to have any problems were Yohmei and Anna, and their blustering could be for the most part ignored.

%&%&%&%

Hao let out a resigned sigh as he walked along with the followers he still had left. Where once they had felt like an entourage, now he felt as though he were surrounded by a retinue of bodyguards; they weren't taking chances with his safety. At least Opacho had gotten over her fear of him and was currently perched on his shoulders, with Chomp perched in her hair, which he had found insanely fascinating.

He'd gotten the full reasons why they all had stayed when he'd gotten back from Yoh's place. Opacho didn't know where else to go, the Hanagumi girls also had nowhere to go, and they felt it was their duty to follow him no matter what because he'd rescued them from their lives before, and Luchist thought of Hao like his own son, and was loathe to abandon him in an obvious time of confusion and change.

"Isn't that Silva walking there?" Luchist leaned down to murmur in Hao's ear. Hao followed his gaze and nodded. The tall Patch wasn't wearing his normal cloak and feather band, but a pair of jeans and a black wife-beater. He also looked like he hadn't slept or shaved in days. The Hanagumi girls closed in around Hao as Silva approached, prompting Hao to roll his eyes.

"I realize you want to keep me safe, but at least allow me to face him head-on." He groaned. The girls backed off a little, but kept their wary glares. Silva stopped when he was about six feet away from Hao. His eyes remained downcast and at this distance Hao could see that the skin around his eyes was swollen and puffy.

"You know where Lukka is?" Silva's voice was quiet and dull.

"Why should we tell you?" Macchi snapped. Hao held up a hand, quieting her.

"I just...if you see her, tell her, tell that I'm sorry." Silva whispered. "I-I know that can't make up for it, but I am." Macchi looked as though she were about to say something more, but Hao placed a hand on her shoulder, asking her to be silent.

"It would be better if that apology was in person." Silva nodded, still not looking up. Hao was well aware of the validity of forgiveness, having been on the receiving end of it from his brother all this time, and from the look of Silva he could tell that the man was indeed very sorry for hurting his sister. If he was wrong, well, they outnumbered Silva anyways. "I'll take you to where she is, but that doesn't guarantee she'll want to speak with you."

Silva nodded again, raising his head to look Hao briefly in the eyes as he did so. "Are you sure this is wise?" Kanna quietly asked as they walked along, Silva tagging along a few feet behind them.

"If necessary we will defend Lukka, though she is quite capable of defending herself, but I do not think it will come to that." Hao replied confidently. His followers cast doubtful looks at one another, but went along with it anyways. In a few moments they were at Yoh's place, where they could hear Yohmei bellowing unheeded to the whole world.

Hao slipped around back, feeling Lukka's power emanating from that location. When he peeked around the corner both Lukka and Yoh were sitting on the back step, Yoh with his arms around his rather depressed-looking lover. Hao sighed; what was about to happen would either lift Lukka's spirits, or depress them even more.

"Did it go well when I was gone?" Hao asked as he walked into view. Yoh looked up and nodded his head. Hao counted down in his head, waiting for the inevitable.

"Lukka?" Lukka glanced up at the quiet voice, her dark eyes almost as dull as her brother's were currently. When she realized who was standing there though, her eyes hardened as she shot to her feet and ran at her brother, teeth bared in a furious snarl.

Silva made no other sound when her fist drove into her belly than a small, choked wheeze. He didn't complain, he just stood there while she pummelled at him with her fists while tears spilled from her eyes. When she'd tired herself out she backed away, sobbing softly.

"I trusted you, I loved you, and I thought that you loved me." She yelled at him.

"I did, I do, I'm sorry." Silva whispered. "I wasn't thinking right, I was thinking like a Patch, when I should have been thinking like a brother. I knew I made a mistake when I saw you atop the Spirit of Rain, but it hit home when Hao was the one to ream me out for hurting you."

"You did what?" Hao grinned at the glare that Lukka levelled at him.

"I got angry, and rather than let it simmer and then later I do something supremely stupid, I went and let it goad me into doing something that may have been stupid." He explained.

"I left the Patch." Silva added in. Lukka stared at him in surprise. "I told Goldva that he was cruel for subjecting you to the life you had all these years and then left."

"I-I can't believe it, you just left?" Lukka couldn't stop staring.

"You're more important, I realize that now. I just wish I'd realized it sooner." Silva said. Lukka shook her head at him.

"I don't know, I don't know if I can trust you, if I can forgive you for doing that." She stated. Silva nodded.

"I don't know if I can forgive myself." He replied. "If you want me to leave, I will, and I won't ever bother you again, ok?" Lukka was silent for a long, long time and Silva's face fell. He turned to leave.

"Wait, no!" Lukka grabbed at his shirt. "I don't want you to leave, I want my brother."

Silva turned around and embraced her. Lukka nuzzled her face into his chest, crying softly. Hao smiled softly at the picture. The wounds of the heart would take time to heal, and there would always be scars, but at least now they would heal.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	24. Chapter 24

Wolf: I own nothing!

"I suppose we need another room set up." Ren said, looking up at Silva, and then Lukka clinging to him like she was afraid to let go.

"For who?" Keiko blinked at Silva. "Oh, hello."

"Good day." Silva replied. "I'm Lukka's brother, Silva."

"I'm Keiko, Yoh and Hao's mother." Silva's eyebrows lifted in surprise at her choice of introduction. Keiko peered around him, finding Hao and his followers still in the backyard. "Why don't you all come in, have some tea?" Hao and his followers readily accepted and stepped inside.

"Yohmei's not going to like this." Hao commented. Keiko shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't really care anymore what he does and doesn't like. I've spent too many years doing what he thought was right, and I'm just tired of it." She said fiercely. "Had it been my choice I would have kept you, raised you as my own, Hao."

"Really?" Hao asked, surprised. Keiko nodded her head.

"Perhaps things would have turned out different that way." She told him.

"Maybe." Hao mused quietly.

"I think they turned out alright this way though, too." Yoh added, sitting down with Lukka in his lap.

"Though there were a few hiccups." Lukka smiled up at her brother as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I doubt the hiccups are done, we still have to worry about the X-Laws and the Patch." Luchist reminded all of them. "Heaven forbid they think it's in their best interests to team up."

"Let's not jinx that, shall we?" Kanna said, shivering just slightly.

"Hao-sama can deal with them no problem." Mari stated calmly.

"But, I think we'd rather not have any more bloodshed." Lukka told her.

"You think that they'll leave us alone?" Macchi asked.

"No, I don't think that." Hao replied. "But perhaps if the Patch see we want no more fighting, they'll leave us alone. The X-Laws... I don't think they'll ever stop."

"No, too zealous, those folks." Luchist said. Yoh nodded and looked down.

"Lyserg rejoined them, and he considers me the enemy now as well." Shocked silence met his words.

"I knew Lyserg had gone back to them, but he calls you enemy now too?" Horohoro whispered in horror. Yoh nodded soberly.

"I'm sorry; once again, it's because of me that you've been hurt." Hao sighed. Yoh reached out a hand and squeezed Hao's shoulder.

"It's not your fault what people choose to believe." He replied softly. "Don't be too hard on yourself. You should regret, but you shouldn't let that regret pull you back into a new darkness."

"A few days ago I would have laughed at the thought of regret, but my mind is clearer than it has been in years." Hao said sombrely. "I remember now what my mother meant to me, and what family meant, and I am horrified by what I did to so many while I had kept my emotions trapped."

"Through all of it we forget that the people that we've hurt are just like us, we have to, to do what we do." Lukka explained patiently. "After a time you start to believe they are not like you at all, until someone reminds you that in fact, they are, even the regular humans."

All were quiet to think on the words that had been said. "The world still needs to change." Luchist said after a time.

"We all agree about that, but we do not have the right to decide who deserves to live or die." Yoh replied. "We are as fallible as any other on this planet, but we can see a new path, where they are trapped in the way of life that has been theirs since birth or by necessity."

"How does Yoh-sama and Hao-sama plan to change that?" Mari asked. "Seems like more effort than just starting from scratch."

"It is more effort, but often the best course of action is."Lukka replied.

"We're trying to change the way the world works, in a way that will continue to stay for generations, we need to get into peoples' heads somehow." He explained.

"Perhaps dreams would work." Hao offered. "Remember the dream we shared, Yoh?" Yoh shuddered in acknowledgement. "We found ourselves dreaming of the battle before the Great Spirit." He explained to their confused audience. "And we were seeing the battle through the other's eyes."

"A powerful dream can change the path of a man." Silva mused.

"Inception." Lukka added, remembering the movie they had seen not that long ago. Silva nodded in agreement. "In that movie they planted an idea in the deepest reaches of a man's dreams to make him dissolve his company, you should watch it, might give you more ideas."

"Noted." Luchist said. "Now, the only one who might be a threat to Hao's win is the Iron Maiden girl."

"Ah, actually, I think that Yoh will be the one to face off against Hao for the title." Kanna said with a smirk.

"And what makes you say that?" Hao asked. "I don't disagree, but what is your reasoning?"

"Yoh fights smart. He's clever, and often that's more important than power, if all you're going to do is throw it about like the X-Laws do." She explained. "Yoh might have less power than them, but he fights with his head, and that can win against them, maybe even against you." She added with a crooked smile at Hao.

"Kanna, you shouldn't say that!" Macchi yelped.

"Why not? He's not acting as our master anymore, the least I could be is his friend, and friends don't always agree." Kanna retorted.

"Good, he needs a couple people to harass him about his attitude." Lukka chuckled.

"My attitude? What about yours?" Hao cried, pointing an accusing finger at her.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Lukka replied, turning up her nose at him. He huffed at her, realizing she was playing with him and began to smile. Lukka smiled back and snuggled into Yoh's embrace. "I think this is the happiest I've ever been, and the first time in a long time that I'm not worried about whether or not tomorrow the Patch will decide I'm too dangerous to keep."

"There's still danger from them." Silva warned gently. "Don't get cocky."

"Oh, I know that big brother, I only mean-" Silva shushed her with a hand on her head.

"I know what you meant." She smiled at him again. Silva felt any doubts about leaving the Patch dissolve with every look she gave him, every hug, every forgiveness. He had made the right choice, and to hell with tradition and the Patch. He was done with them.

"Kalim's out in the street bellowing for you." Ren stated as he walked into the room. No one had noticed that he had left at all. Silva grimaced; it seemed like the Patch weren't done with him, and it hurt him to turn his back on Kalim. Lukka looked up at him with worried eyes, her faith in him tempered by his recent betrayal. But, he would not do it again.

"He can bellow all he wants, I'm not going back." Silva said with conviction in his voice.

"Well, I think you should tell him that before he tries to tear the village apart looking for you." Ren told him. Silva sighed and got up. Lukka got up as well and took his hand.

"That's not a good idea, little sister."

"I want him to see me." Lukka replied fiercely, locking her jaw stubbornly. Silva opened his mouth to argue and then shook his head; there was no fighting with Lukka once she set her mind to something.

"We'll take up positions around the house in case an attack comes." Hao said. Silva nodded his thanks and he and Lukka walked towards the door. Kalim was standing in the middle of the street, panting, when they opened the door. He looked up and his face relaxed in relief at the sight of Silva, and then creased just as quickly in anxiety when he saw Lukka holding his hand.

"Silva, you need to come back, there's still time." Kalim pleaded tiredly.

"There's no time for that anymore, and I won't break my sister's heart a second time." Silva retorted.

"Sister? But she's-"

"She may not be my sister by blood, but I raised her and I understand her, something that none of the rest of you ever even considered doing." Silva snapped. Kalim recoiled slightly, eyes wide with surprise and alarm. "Look past what you fear about her and all you have is a little girl struggling to find her place in the world, as we all do." Kalim was silent, and Lukka decided it was her turn to jump in.

"I always respected you." Kalim flinched at the sound of her voice. "I never followed when you wanted to be with Silva, even though you were taking away the only person I could ever trust, who ever showed me any kind of love." Kalim looked into her eyes, drawn by the years-old pain in those depths. "I lived a life where my own people feared me, and any day they could turn around and I would be the one called monster, can you think of what that must have been like for me?"

"You... you released Hao." Kalim accused quietly.

"He's changed, he's not a monster, just as I am not." Lukka stressed. "I released him because if I didn't help him escape a fate that I would not wish on anyone, I think that would have made me the monster truly."

"Go away Kalim, if you're still here only to convince me back." Silva told his friend in a tired, heavy voice. "Don't come back, and don't attack because we will fight back. I'm sorry it has to be this way my friend, but I won't abandon her again."

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Wolf: Review plz!


	25. Chapter 25

Wolf: I own nothing!

"They're pestering her again." Yoh looked up at Hao's quiet comment. They were in the forest with Hao's followers and Yoh's friends, just relaxing. Opacho was running after Chomp in a game of Keep-Away, Luchist and Silva were discussing something and the Hanagumi girls were crowding around Lukka, asking questions once again.

"They're curious about her." Yoh replied. "If she really didn't like it, she'd let them know and go somewhere they couldn't follow."

"You're right about that." Hao admitted wryly.

"Do you think that Kanna is right? That it will be me against you in the final fight?" Yoh asked him. Hao looked down at him and then sat down beside him.

"I do think it may come to that." Hao said. "Does that scare you?"

"Once it might have." Yoh confessed. "But you're not the same man you once were."

"That's true." Hao mused. "As for why I believe that it will be you and I, it is because you have the heart, and the smarts to use the power that you have, which, if I'm not mistaken, has grown exponentially since you and I last fought, in just the right way to overpower the Iron Maiden. You might even have the ability to overcome me."

"I don't think I'd go that far, but to hear you admit that you could be defeated is strange and comforting at the same time." Yoh said. Hao chuckled and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, pulling him closer.

"I owe a lot to you, otouto." Hao murmured. Yoh squirmed happily and wrapped his own arm around Hao.

"All I did was help you see clearly again."

"You're so unpretentious, you know that?" Hao smiled at Yoh. "I wish sometimes now that I was a little more like you, easily happy, easily able to understand people, humble."

"Yeah, but then you wouldn't be you, aniki." Yoh replied.

"I suppose." Hao reflected. They watched as Lukka produced a small orb of pure water, to the Hanagumi girls' delight. Hao felt more at peace with the world and with himself than he had for a thousand years. He'd been searching for so long for the thing he was missing, and thought that becoming Shaman King would fill the void, but it wasn't so. What I needed was to embrace my emotions, not push them away, and I needed family, companionship again. I don't think I would have been able to figure that out myself."

"I'm glad that I helped you, it makes me happy." Yoh rested his head on Hao's shoulder. "I always wanted a brother, you know? When I found out you were my brother it made me sad to know you would never look at me like I was truly your brother. Part of my motivation for getting through to you was that maybe I'd have a real brother after all."

Hao remembered all the times he'd brushed Yoh off or simply ignored him and felt bad. He remembered the broken looks now that Yoh would give him, and they hurt his heart. How did Yoh find the courage to keep coming back, even when he'd been rejected so many times?

"I'm sorry for everything I put you through Yoh." He finally sighed. Yoh shrugged indifferently.

"You had your reasons for being the way you were, and I wasn't going to pass judgement until I understood those reasons." He explained. "Everything worked out ok, didn't it?" Hao smiled, choosing not to mention that things were not over yet, and that something could go wrong. For the moment, those fears didn't matter.

Ren looked as though he were challenging Lukka to a battle now, and Lukka was just shaking her head, which was obviously irritating Ren. Lukka said something that made Horohoro laugh and Ren punched him in the side. Everyone laughed at that, including Hao. It would take awhile for Yoh's friends, and Hao's followers to be comfortable with each other, but it would happen. Things were changing, and that was a good thing.

"Marco was right, I should have known." Yoh jerked at the bitter, angry voice and looked up to find Lyserg glaring at them balefully through the trees at the edge of the little clearing they were in.

"Lyserg-" Yoh stood up and went to walk towards Lyserg. Lyserg pulled out his gun and pointed it at Yoh's chest. "Are you really going to shoot me?" Yoh asked Lyserg quietly. Lyserg bit his lip and his fingers shook, but he didn't lower the gun. "I don't know what Marco told you, but he lies, he always did, you should know that."

"I know what my eyes see before me." Lyserg snarled in reply.

"And what do you see, Lyserg?" Yoh asked gently.

"You've joined him." Lyserg snapped, tears shining in his eyes. "Everything was just a lie with you, wasn't it?"

"No, it wasn't. But if you knew me at all, Lyserg, you would have known that I'm no killer, I'd rather save than damn, and that's just what I did." Yoh explained.

"He can't be saved." Lyserg snapped, throwing a hate and pain-laden glare at Hao. Hao flinched and looked away from those eyes, too painful to bear. Lukka had closed her mind, unable to handle the tormented thoughts of revenge and anguish. All in the clearing were slowly and stealthily edging up behind Yoh and Hao, prepared to intervene if Lyserg tried anything.

"You only think that because you only see a monster when you look at him. I still see the person, and I wanted to save him from the path of destruction." Yoh replied. "Killing him would have only made him stronger the next time around. Destruction isn't a solution, it's a problem, and that's all it ever can be."

"Why should I listen to anything you say anymore, you joined him!" Lyserg yelled, cocking the gun. Lukka moved faster, encasing the gun and Lyserg's hands in a sphere of water, trapping it.

"I will not allow you to do that." She said softly, dangerously. "I will not allow you to take away one of the only things that made this world bearable for me."

"What are you talking about? Who are you?" Lyserg demanded, trying to dislodge the water around his hands.

"I am Lukka, and for the moment, I'm not sure who I am at the moment, but I'm working on it." Lukka answered. "You should listen to him, Lyserg, he's your friend, and you know that. You're confused, and scared and you're only going to do something you're going to regret while you're like this."

"You don't know what I'm feeling." Lyserg growled. Lukka smirked slightly.

"Actually, since I can read minds, yes, I do." Lyserg's face drained of colour. "Since I consider it an invasion of privacy to look beyond the surface of the mind, and even then only when I need to know something, you can be assured that I don't know everything about you. But I do know that you want to trust Yoh still, and you should trust your instincts."

Lyserg gritted his teeth and said nothing, still trying to break free of Lukka's magic. She sighed in exasperation and waved her hand. A bubble of water surrounded him and then vanished.

"What did you do with him?" Macchi asked.

"I just transported him to another part of the forest, close to the path." Lukka replied. "I had considered getting him lost, but I thought that would have been mean of me, and I try not to be mean."

"He will not forget what you did." Luchist warned. "You've made yourself a new enemy."

"He might consider me enemy, but I only see a frightened little boy." Lukka replied gently. "I will not fight him, and I will not harm him, no matter what he tries. I want you to promise the same thing, all of you." Yoh's friends nodded readily and Hao's followers looked to their master. Hao bit his lip slightly.

"I will not cause him any more pain than I have already." He said in a pained voice. "And I will not allow any harm to come by way of anyone who still calls me master."

"None of us will hurt him." Kanna promised.

"I get the feeling though that the storm is just about to break." Luchist mused.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	26. Chapter 26

Wolf: I own nothing!

Tensions were brewing in the Patch village, anger from the side of the Patch and the X-Laws, and worry on the part of Yoh and his friends and family. Lukka and Hao both were worried, but hid it behind bravado and indifference, respectively.

The semi-finals were underway, with Marco and Hao having already faced off, with Hao winning, of course. The only thing left was for Yoh to fight against the Iron Maiden, and whoever won that fight would face Hao in the finals. All of them were betting on Yoh to win, to the point where they had joked about placing money bets on the fight. The mood was jovial, but grim, all of them knowing that their enjoyment might be cut short by an attack at any time.

Lukka was busy teaching Hao how to fine-tune his control over his telepathy, showing him how to look into individuals' minds without having to completely open his mind to everyone's thoughts. Hao, in turn, was teaching both Lukka and Yoh different defensive techniques and ways of using their Oversouls, even perfecting a giant form of Amidamaru like what was seen in Yoh and Hao's battle for the Great Spirit. Hao's followers joked that he was aiding the enemy and squabbled over who would win in the final battle. It wasn't hard to see that after some time of nothing happening, everyone had sort of relaxed their guard.

The day before Yoh and the Iron Maiden's fight dawned hot and humid. Electricity and the smell of ozone was in the air, hinting at a brewing storm. No one in the Asakura house seemed to care though, all of them laughing and chatting over breakfast. Hao and his companions had joined them and Hao was sipping coffee with Opacho in his lap and Chomp sneaking sips of his coffee when he put the mug on the table.

Yoh suddenly noticed his mother yawning widely, her eyes ringed with tired shadows. "Kaa-san, are you alright?"

"Hm? Oh, yes, I'm fine, Yoh." Keiko answered with a happy smile. "I've just been having this dream of late, always the same thing, and I've finally decided to do as she asked."

"Who?" Yoh asked.

"Asanoha." Hao jerked, spilling hot coffee on his wrist and yelped in a rather undignified way.

"You're dreaming about my mother?" He asked her.

"Yes, um, she asked me to finish something for her, something she had been working on for you, at the time of her death." Keiko explained, blushing slightly. "I'm just about finished, but I'm not quite sure about the sizing..." She trailed off and stood up, walking quickly from the room. Everyone looked at each other in confusion. She came back in a couple minutes later with a bundle of cloth.

Carefully she laid it out on the table, revealing a red kimono patterned with flowers. Hao slowly reached out and touched it. The material was light and soft to the touch. "Like I said, I'm not quite sure about the sizing, so if you wouldn't mind trying it on, Hao?"

"Of course." Hao replied, standing up and gathering the kimono in his arms. He followed Keiko from the kitchen without another word. The rest of them scattered soon after that, going about their own business.

Yoh, Ren and Horohoro decided to take a walk in the forest, chatting about what they were all going to do when the fight was over, seeing as both Ren and Horohoro were out of the fight now. "I suppose I'll be learning how to take over from my father the duties of the head of the family." Ren was saying. He suddenly halted and stared at something, his eyes going hard and cold.

Yoh and Horohoro followed his gaze and to their dismay found Lyserg and Marco blocking their path. "What do you freakshows want?" Horohoro demanded.

"What we have wanted all along, the end of evil in this world." Marco replied smugly. "And I think now we are going to start with you. Hao will be displeased that his other half is dead, don't you think, Lyserg?" Lyserg nodded, his eyes filled with a feverish hate.

"Lyserg, don't do this." Yoh pleaded as Lyserg levelled his gun at them.

"Deal death to evil." Lyserg whispered in reply and summoned Zeruel. The boys scattered, dodging the attacks that the massive angel spirit dished out. All of them had foolishly left their weapons and spirits behind and were all but defenceless unless they could somehow get away from the X-Laws. Everything was going alright until Yoh stumbled and fell to the ground. Zeruel loomed over him, thrusting his blade at Yoh's heart. Yoh closed his eyes and waited for the blow.

It never came, and instead Yoh heard running feet, a dull, meaty thud and a grunt of pain. He opened his eyes and stared up in horror at the tip of Zeruel's blade, dripping with blood, protruding from Hao's back. A cry of anguish was ripped from his lips as the blade was withdrawn with a sickening squelching noise and Hao dropped like a stone to the ground.

In the next instant a bellowing roar echoed in the air and Marco and Lyserg suddenly found themselves attempting to fend off the Spirit of Rain being directed by a furious Lukka. Yoh turned over Hao and found that he was unconscious. The bright red kimono was stained darker with blood that was steadily pooling on the ground and a trickle of blood dripped from his pale lips down his chin.

"Lukka!" He called. Lukka looked back at him with rage-filled eyes. "There's no time for that, he needs help." Lukka ran over and gasped in dismay. "Can you heal him?" Yoh felt his heart drop when Lukka shook her head.

"Yoh." Yoh looked up at Ren and Horohoro. "You and Lukka take him to the Patch village hospital and we'll get Faust, he's probably the only one that will treat him."

Yoh nodded and carefully picked up his comatose brother, using his own shirt to attempt to staunch the blood. Lukka transported them to the hospital and there they waited for Faust. When the doctor arrived he whisked Hao away into an operating room, bullying the other doctors into giving him the equipment he needed, and set down to work. All Yoh and Lukka could do was wait.

After some time Keiko drifted in with Mikihisa and Silva, holding onto Chomp. She was crying openly. "He just sort of stiffened and then ran out, not a word." She blubbered. "I had no idea where he was going."

"He saved my life." Yoh said softly, tears pricking his own eyes. "He didn't even care that he could die himself, he just stepped in front of me, like it was nothing."

"If he dies, I'll kill him." Lukka said stonily, and then burst into tears herself. Silva was sitting down and had his arms wrapped around her in an instant. Yoh's parents sat on either side of him and attempted to comfort him as best as they could.

"When he wakes up he'll be able to heal himself up, good as new again." Mikihisa said in a falsely cheery voice.

"That's if he wakes up." Yoh replied, voice dull and unhappy. "It's not fair, he finally gets a little good in his life, and this happens."

"He's strong." Silva stated firmly. "He survived it when you struck him down."

"Yes, but I didn't really want to kill him, and there was so much blood..." He whispered, staring down at his hands, which were stained in his brother's life fluid. No one could find anything more to say that was simply useless and they lapsed into an uneasy, unhappy silence. A few minutes ticked by slowly before they heard footsteps walking towards them hurriedly.

"Go away!" Lukka snarled when Kalim appeared, looking bewildered.

"I got a call." He said defensively. "They said there was something odd going on here."

"Yeah, Hao's injured and may be dying, does that make you happy now?" Lukka snapped. Silva squeezed her hand, shushing her gently. Kalim blinked a couple times, looking bewildered as he stared from each unhappy face to the next.

"He was trying to save me." Yoh suddenly whispered, startling Kalim. "He jumped in front of me and allowed the blow meant for me to be taken by him." Kalim's expression slid from confused to surprised and confused. He looked at Silva, seeing the way he was hunched protectively against his sister, and sighed to himself. Plodding over he plunked himself down in the seat next to Silva.'

"What are you doing?" Silva asked.

"I'm sitting next to my friend, other than that... I'm not entirely sure." Kalim replied in a bemused tone. He regarded Lukka out of the corner of his eye as he sat there. With tears gathering in her eyes and with her leaning against her brother for support he finally was able to see what he was blind to for so many years, and that Silva had always seen; finally he saw the little girl instead of the monster.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	27. Chapter 27

Wolf: I own nothing!

Faust finally stepped out of the operating room, sighing tiredly as he discarded of blood-stained rubber gloves. "He is alive, for now." He said in answer to the questioning looks. "He is badly injured though, and comatose. He's breathing on his own still, which is a good sign."

"So he'll live?" Yoh asked eagerly. Faust hesitated, and that was enough to make Yoh's rising spirits plummet again.

"He may." Faust said slowly. "But only time will tell. I have set him up in a recovery room, you all can go see him now."

Kalim slipped away as they followed the doctor to where Hao was. The fire shaman was lying motionless on the hospital bed, an oxygen mask dominating most of his deathly pale face. An IV dripped antibiotics and painkillers into his veins and machines monitored his quiet heartbeat and almost non-existent brain activity.

"Hao? Aniki?" Yoh whispered, touching Hao's forehead lightly. Hao did not respond to the gesture and Yoh sank into the chair next to his unconscious brother with a soft moan. Lukka placed her one hand on Yoh's shoulder and then placed her other on Hao's forehead as Yoh had done. For a brief moment she thought she felt a weak consciousness brush her mind, but she wasn't sure and it was gone as soon as it came.

"He'll come out of it, I'm sure of it." Lukka said, put as much hope into her voice as she could muster. She was lying to herself as much as anyone else in the room, because they all knew that Hao might never wake up.

"It would probably be wise if there was someone looking after him the whole time he's here." Silva stated. "I have a feeling both the X-Laws and the Patch will try and take advantage of his vulnerability."

"We'll get his companions and the others to help out." Mikihisa said.

"I'll stay by his side for the first while." Yoh whispered.

"And I'll stay with you." Lukka offered. Yoh smiled wanly at her and squeezed the hand that was slipped into his. The rest of them left the two lovers alone to watch and grieve in private. The two of them sat in silence, regarding Hao's motionless body as though waiting for him to spring up and tell them it had all been a joke.

After awhile Lukka began to zone out in a sense, searching for the weak presence she had felt brushing her mind, certain that it was Hao trying to get into touch with her. Yoh didn't notice what she was doing; he was locked up in his own private fears and sorrows. After a couple hours had oozed by in the slow way that it does when one is waiting for something, he looked up and noticed the concentrating look on Lukka's face.

"What are you doing, Lukka?" Yoh asked. Lukka jerked and opened her eyes, blinking slightly in confusion. "Are you alright?"

"What? Oh, yes, I'm alright, love." Lukka replied, somewhat vaguely. "I was just talking to him."

"Hao? He's awake?" Yoh asked eagerly. Lukka's face softened, but she shook her head slowly.

"I was communicating with him mind to mind. His consciousness is deeply buried, I have to concentrate to find him, but I can talk to him when I do." Lukka explained.

"What have you been talking about?" Yoh asked, intrigued.

"Just sharing things about our lives with one another." Lukka replied.

"Do you think that I would be able to talk to him too?" Yoh asked wistfully.

"I don't..." She trailed off, her eyes going vague. "He says you may be able to connect with him, as you apparently have an empathetic connection in between you two, it's how he knew you were in trouble."

"So I can talk to him?" Lukka nodded.

"You have to be touching him, and you have to concentrate." Lukka told him. Yoh reached out and placed his hand on top of Lukka's, which was on top of Hao's limp hand, and very gently clenched, so that it was like all three of them were holding hands. Lukka looked down at the intertwined hands, a faint smile on her face.

Yoh closed his eyes, he found that having less visual stimuli helped in getting him to concentrate, and pushed himself into the trance-like state that was like sleeping and waking all at the same time. He felt as though he were falling into a deep dark hole in which sight and sound and touch seemed to fade into nothingness and it felt as though there was no way out.

_Hello, otouto._

_Hao? Is that you?_

_Yes._ Hao's voice was calm and peaceful.

_Where are we exactly?_

_We are in the in-between. _Hao answered almost cheerfully. _The place between life and death, and here is where I wait._

_For what?_

_To see if I live or die. _Hao answered simply.

_But, you're going to live, aren't you? _Yoh heard Hao heave a long sigh in the darkness.

_I don't know Yoh, I don't know if I want to live, or die. _Hao said quietly in a small voice. _Part of me wants to stay with you, find out what things could be if I stayed, but the other part... I'm tired, otouto. I've been running so long, and hiding myself for so long that I've forgotten to be tired, but now it's caught up to me, and I... I miss my mother. I want to see her again. _

_But you..._

_There's not much for me in the world of the living, Yoh, except you, and I'm just going to keep making your life a misery if I do stay, I see that now._

_You could never make my life a misery, aniki._

_I don't want you hurt. Understand Yoh, I haven't made any decision yet, not in my heart, otherwise something would have happened already. I'm waiting to see what my body decides, what fate has in store for me. _

_So if your body decides its time is up..._

_I'll go on. Don't sound so sad, Yoh. I've never felt so at peace with myself. For once I can die without feeling like I've been cheated, or filled with so much rage._

_But you're leaving so much behind. _Yoh said in a small voice. He heard Hao sigh patiently in the dark and a warm something briefly wrapped around him, like a hug from a warm current of air.

_And in time you will all join me. What's a few decades in the face of eternity? Plus, if, when you become Shaman King, I will be with you anyways, as part of the Great Spirit. _

_That's something at least. Will you return to the living again next time?_

_No. _There was no hesitation in Hao's voice. _If the end comes for me now, it will be the end, finally and completely. I go to find Kaa-san and Matamune if I go, even if I have to claw my way out of Hell to do it. _Yoh smiled slightly at the determination in Hao's voice. _I know you feel like you need me right now. _Hao continued in a gentler tone. _But you're doing fine on your own. It would be nice to have a brother but... I don't know, I just don't know anymore._

_You'll think about things though, before deciding one way or another, right?_

_There's not much else for me to do here. _Hao said with a hint of amusement in his voice. _But remember this, whatever way I go, I will still be with you in some way, ok?_

_Okay. _Yoh said doubtfully. He felt the warm squeezing sensation once more before rising back out of the dark into the real world. Once there and aware of what was going on he rested his head on Lukka's shoulder and cried for the second time that day.

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Wolf: Review plz!ao


	28. Chapter 28

Wolf: I own nothing!

"I don't know if I can do this." Yoh murmured to Lukka as they walked to his fight with the Iron Maiden.

"Why do you say that?" Lukka asked. "It's not because Hao isn't here, is it?"

"Well, yes." Yoh answered sheepishly. "And I never finished the training he started with me, so I don't know if I can..." Lukka halted him, turning him so that they were facing and cupping his face in her hands.

"You don't need him, you just think you do. You can do this on your own, Yoh, I know you can." She told him earnestly, touching noses with him. She was rewarded with a faint smile and she kissed him lightly on the lips before the two of them caught up with their friends.

Lukka settled into the front row in the arena with the rest of Yoh's friends, who carefully placed themselves around her protectively, leaving an open space right beside her, a silent testament to the missing shaman. Lukka saw Yoh look back once and his eyes grew sad at the sight of that empty seat. She gave him an encouraging smile, which he returned slightly, and then the battle began.

Lukka found herself gripping her thighs so tightly that she was leaving crescent-shaped marks in them as the battle raged on. A couple times it looked like the Iron Maiden would slice Yoh in two, but each time he hopped nimbly away or seemed to disappear and reappear somewhere else in the arena. She noticed that he was simply defending himself against attacks mostly, not putting up his own offence.

"He's trying to weaken her." She told Silva quietly. Her brother nodded. "And he's trying to figure out the best way to beat her at the same time."

"He was always good at that, analysing his opponents." Ren murmured. All of them watched Yoh silently, knowing that if he failed, he would die at the Iron Maiden's hands. While others were cheering, they were quiet, anxious for Yoh to at least come out of this battle alive.

"Is this seat taken?" A mellow, familiar voice asked. Lukka half-turned and gasped in surprise at the sight of Hao standing there, looking healthy as can be. She grinned happily.

"You made it, you..." She trailed off as she realized that he was wearing the red kimono, miraculously not torn and free of blood. Her mind worked at a furious pace, trying to deny what this meant as she stared up into peaceful black eyes. "You're dead."

"I am." Hao's tone indicated that he wasn't too concerned about that fact. He sat down and Lukka could see bare feet peeking out from under the kimono, slightly translucent if you looked hard enough. He also looked happy, and more at peace than she'd ever seen him before, even when things were well and he was with people who cared.

"Why?" She asked in a small voice. He sighed softly.

"I'm tired of running." He said simply. "I've been running for a thousand years and now it's just time to stop." He explained. "Besides, I think I can better help Yoh this way."

"What?" Lukka asked, absolutely bewildered.

"As part of the Great Spirit I can be a guiding voice in his mind and soul, I will be there constantly, and without worrying that someone's going to slit my throat or something. I can give him my full attention as I would not be able to do while living."

"You're going to have a hard time making him see that." Lukka commented dryly, trying not to let the tears gathering in her eyes fall. He lightly touched her cheek, the sensation warm and as light as butterfly wings. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Keiko and Mikihisa, who had been sitting vigil over Hao in the hospital, coming up. There were tears in Keiko's eyes and she was clutching Chomp in her hands.

"It's all going to be alright." Hao told her gently. "Watch now." Lukka turned back to the battle, just in time to see Yoh go on the offensive, creating his giant Oversoul of Amidamaru, so like the one that had defeated Hao that the audience let out a collective gasp of amazement. Shamash came at him, whirling hands that had turned into blades and the two behemoths clashed and danced around each other, seeking an opening to bring down their opponent.

All the sudden the giant Amidamaru dealt Shamash a blow that knocked him back to the edge of the arena. Quick as a flash Yoh and Amidamaru moved again, slicing across Shamash. The Oversoul wavered, and then fell apart and the Iron Maiden fell to her knees, spent and panting. The crowd rose to its feet, roaring its approval for the victor, Yoh Asakura.

The giant screen hanging over the arena flashed and began to type words across its surface.

**VICTOR...YOH ASAKURA... SHAMAN KING**

For a long moment there was silence, so still and complete it was as if one had gone deaf, and then sound came back in a mighty roar as the arena celebrated. Yoh however, stared at the screen in horror, knowing full well what it meant. He sank to his knees on the ground.

Lukka felt a faint breeze as Hao stood up and floated down to the arena floor. As he walked towards his prone brother silence fell again, confused, frightened silence. Hao knelt in front of Yoh and gently cupped his chin, bringing Yoh's tearstained face up to look into his.

"Get up Yoh, the Shaman King should not be on his knees." Hao said gently.

"But-but... you're dead." Yoh whispered. Hao lifted him to his feet.

"Yes, I'm dead, but this isn't a time to be sad, you've won."

"Only because you died." Yoh muttered childishly, looking down. Hao sighed and hugged his younger brother. Yoh whimpered and buried his face in Hao's shoulder.

"You may have beaten me as well, we'll never know, but now I can be the guiding voice in your heart at all times, isn't that good as well?"

"I suppose it is." Yoh sniffed. "And I guess that's the only way now, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry, Yoh."

"No, it wouldn't be fair of me to keep you here just because I wanted you here." Yoh said sensibly.

"Hao-sama?" Hao turned and smiled at Opacho. He got down and allowed her to hug him.

"Yoh Asakura, we must go." Goldva said in a toneless voice. He avoided looking at Lukka, who had come down to the stadium floor, and was glaring daggers at him, and he was attempting to avoid looking at Hao, who was gently explaining things to his companions, who looked sombrely at their former master.

"Give me a couple minutes." Yoh told them and waited for his brother. When Hao was doen he walked back over, a faint smile on his face. "This is it."

"Yeah, this is it, otouto." Hao replied. "I'll see you in the Great Spirit."

"I'll see you." Yoh said, embracing his brother one last time. Hao smiled and then faded away into the afterglow.

"Is it over then?" Marco asked harshly. "The monster is dead?" Lukka rounded on him with bared teeth, but Yoh put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

"Hao is gone, but that's nothing to celebrate." He said in a firm tone. "He died protecting someone he cared about, I don't think that's very monstrous, do you?" His eyes rested in particular on Lyserg, who bit his lip and looked away, unable to meet Yoh's eyes. Yoh then turned away.

The Patch moved forward, Kalim eyeing Silva and Lukka speculatively. "Come, Shaman King, it's time." Goldva stated again. Yoh nodded and followed them, his friends and family following after him like a crowd of ducklings. Lukka got up alongside him and held his hand, silently daring any of the Patch to try anything with her.

They did their best to ignore her and the rest of Yoh's entourage, saying nothing as they made their way to the caves which would lead one to the Great Spirit. Yoh's friends and family crowded around him, touching him, whispering words of praise and encouragement as they walked along. Yoh focused on their words and Lukka's hand in his rather than the rapid beat of his heart and the pain in his soul at losing Hao.

At last they came to the caves, where all of them halted. The Patch waited at the entrance as Yoh said goodbye to his friends and family. Lukka hung back, waiting for the last, wanting her farewell to be the one he would remember; maybe selfish, but she wanted this moment to be remembered, and she wanted her former tribe to see what she had made for herself.

When he got to her he looked into her eyes for the longest time, memorizing them. She cupped his face in her hands, tracing the shape of the cheekbones she could feel under her fingertips. Slowly she then slid her hands into his hair and softly moulded her lips to hers in a kiss that was both goodbye and hello all at once, a soul-bearing, ultimate expression of love, as a kiss was always meant to be.

"Come back to me." She whispered against his lips, and then released him. He gave her a soft, loving smile and then followed the still-stunned Patch officials into the cave's darkness.

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Wolf: Review plz! *hides*


	29. Chapter 29

Wolf: I own nothing!

Lukka couldn't help feeling as Yoh disappeared into the dark that he was disappearing forever. She knew it was silly, that he would be back, but fear of the dark was one of the most ancient of instincts and it was hard to let go of that. To keep herself from shaking she sat down on the ground and then began to bite at her nails nervously.

Silva sighed and sat down with her, throwing an arm around her narrow shoulders. "He's going to be fine, nothing bad has ever happened to the Shaman King before."

"None of them were Yoh though, none of them were people that we know." Lukka countered.

"I suppose that does make a difference." Silva mused. One by one those who had followed Yoh to his final journey to be Shaman King settled down on the ground, eyes trained on the darkness from which their friend would emerge from. The mood was sombre rather than celebratory, the death of Hao hanging over all of them.

The quiet was broken by the rustle of bushes, announcing the arrival of some very unwanted visitors. Anna and Yohmei sauntered out, followed by the X-Laws. "Oh great, what do you freaks want now?" Horohoro moaned. The rest of them were slowly getting up and into defensive positions, getting ready for a fight, if necessary.

"Haven't you done enough already?" Lukka added, staring in particular at Lyserg, who looked away almost at once. Marco placed his hand on Lyserg's head, making the English boy flinch.

"He has done the ultimate good and rid the world of evil." The Iron Maiden replied. "And Anna has so nicely told us about you, little copy of Hao. Perhaps we should get rid of you as well, we don't need another Hao around."

"I am not Hao, I am Lukka." Lukka growled. "I may share his DNA, but I am my own person, just like Yoh is his own person."

"You are connected to Hao, and for that you must die." Marco replied.

"When does it end?" Silva demanded. "You kill all who have some connection to Hao in any way you may as well kill all the other shamans in this village."

"Perhaps then that is what needs to happen, as well as the removal of this new false King from his throne and the placement of our Lady as the true saviour." Marco said, eyes aglow with a feverish light. Lyserg let out a strangled noise that could have been surprise or dismay, but not an eye was focused on him in that moment. Everyone was just gearing up for the confrontation they knew was coming.

"You don't need to remove him." Anna protested. "Just get me access to him, he'll do what I say when I'm done with him." Lukka let out a short, mirthless bark of laughter, startling all in hearing range.

"I see what this is, this is vengeance for Yoh choosing me over you. You just can't stand it, can you?" She taunted the blonde itako.

"He was supposed to be mine, and he still will be." Anna hissed.

"He's not afraid of you anymore, you can't control him." Lukka pointed out. "But I don't intend to give you any chance to try. So, how about it, will you face me, or will you get these new rabid dogs of yours to do it for you?"

"Lady Jeanne is no dog, sinner!" Marco yelped indignantly. "You will soon see the errors of your ways. X-Laws, assemble!" Lukka snorted at the rag-tag band of replacements that Marco and the Iron Maiden had found to restore their team. They obviously had little training, and weren't very powerful at that.

"I guess that mindless zealousness is hard to find these days." Ren mocked. "These small fish won't be a problem, and I think that Lukka would enjoy handling the Iron Maiden on her own."

"What about Anna?" Manta asked nervously.

"She's an itako, not a battle shaman, she can't do much." Kino said dismissively. "If she does try something, just leave her to me."

"Last chance, X-Laws." Silva said. "It's over, you've lost. We don't want a fight."

"Oh yes we do." Lukka muttered rebelliously. Silva placed a hand on the top of her head, quieting her. They didn't want a confrontation if it could be avoided, but this time it was looking as though it couldn't be. Tensions were high, and Marco's sanity seemed to have snapped in the light of his Lady's defeat. All five of Silva's spirits were poised for action, waiting for the X-Laws to strike the first blow.

They didn't have to wait long, for Marco took out his weapon and immediately aimed at Lukka, the closest thing to Hao he could find to vent his rage upon. Lukka's Spirit of Rain easily deflected his Michael and then the battle was on as each of the X-Laws tried their hand at killing at least one of them.

All, except Lyserg, who hung back, emerald eyes wide and face pale as he held his gun out in front of him, and yet he didn't move. After a few minutes of fruitlessly trying to kill Lukka, Marco noticed Lyserg hanging back, and his rage found a new target. He spun and slapped Lyserg so hard across the face that the young man fell to the ground.

"Why aren't you attacking?" He screamed.

"I-I can't." Lyserg stuttered, eyes huge with fear. Marco snarled and Michael the Archangel came to hover over Lyserg, prepared to deal the ultimate punishment for treason. Before he could deal the finishing blow, giant blue claws sliced through Michael and batted Marco away, flinging him into a tree. A sickening crunch announced Marco's end, his spine broken by the force of hitting the tree.

The Iron Maiden screamed in fury at the death of her right-hand man and went for Lukka. **"ENOUGH!" **The familiar, and yet strange, voice's command froze them all in their tracks. Lukka turned her head slowly, and saw Yoh emerge from the darkness, his eyes glowing with a white light.

"Yoh." She whispered. He turned to her and the white light faded from his eyes, leaving them their normal, peaceful black, and he smiled at her, opening his arms to her. She ran to him, eagerly embracing her lover. "Is Hao in there?"

"Yeah, and he's happily been chattering away with his mother and me." He kissed her forehead gently and then held her at arm's length, looking her dead in the eyes.

"Now, please tell me you didn't start this little scrap?" He teased, though there was seriousness in his face. Lukka shook her head and pointed at the deceased Marco. Yoh nodded his head, his eye grave and then turned to the rest of the X-Laws. "What do you see in their minds, Lukka?" He asked her. Lukka opened her mind and quickly peeked in each one of the attackers' heads, shuddering sometimes at what she saw.

"I don't think we can hope of talking sense into them, they're completely, single-mindedly willing to follow the Iron Maiden to the death, and there not the kind of madness that's brought on by grief that Hao had." Yoh nodded in understanding. Ren and Horohoro came up and briefly explained what the X-Laws had meant to do.

"My friends tell me you planned to kill them, and then either kill me, or enslave me to your will." He told them, the power of the Shaman King holding them all in place still.

"You stole my crown!" The Iron Maiden cried, struggling against his control fruitlessly.

"Yoh won fair and square!" Ryu yelled in reply. The rest of Yoh's friends and family echoed his sentiments until Yoh held up a hand for silence, quieting them in the space of a breath.

"You're dangerous, all of you, but I will not kill you, that is not my way." Yoh closed his eyes and began to glow softly. When he opened his eyes again the captives found they were able to move again, but something was wrong.

"You've taken my powers!" Jeanne shrieked.

"Yes, you're too dangerous with them." Yoh replied calmly. "The Patch will set about getting you all back to your respective homes and you can live the rest of your lives in peace." Yoh then turned to Lyserg, who was still sitting on the ground. "Now then, why didn't you attack with the rest of them Lyserg?" Yoh asked him gently.

"I-I-I.." Lyserg was at a complete loss for words and he simply hung his head, avoiding looking in Yoh's eyes. Yoh knelt down and held out his hand to Lyserg. Lyserg stared at the offered hand for a moment disbelievingly, and then briefly up into Yoh's face. After a long, long moment he hesitantly took Yoh's hand and allowed him to pull him to his feet. Yoh smiled at him encouragingly.

"Let's get you some tea or something, you look wrecked."

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Wolf: Review plz!


	30. Chapter 30

Wolf: I own nothing!

The Patch took charge of the X-Laws, and Kino corralled Anna while Yoh and his friends led Lyserg back to their place. Lyserg looked both downcast and fearful, not exactly sure what was in store for him, but he was somewhat reassured by Yoh's gentle smile. What wasn't reassuring was the glare that Lukka kept aiming his way until Yoh asked her to stop.

They finally made it back to Yoh's place and headed inside, where Keiko set about making tea. Lyserg sat down and kept his eyes on the table. Yoh watched him with concern until a light bite on his ankle drew his attention. Smiling, he lifted Chomp up to his face. The tiny black kitten placed both paws on Yoh's cheeks and looked deep into his eyes for a long time. Finally he leaned forward and nipped Yoh's nose before nuzzling him, purring loudly.

"He knows." Yoh whispered. No one had to ask what he meant by that.

"Of course he does." Lukka sniffed. "He may act like a doofus, but he's an intelligent little guy." She patted Chomp's head while he attempted to playfully swipe at her. "Besides, we've long known animals have a natural sixth sense even more acute than a shaman's is." Yoh rubbed Chomp's head, a tender smile on his face.

Meanwhile Keiko placed a mug of peppermint tea in front of Lyserg. Lyserg stared at it for a long moment and then sighed, picking it up and sipping cautiously from it. Yoh sat down across from him, eyes locked on Lyserg's, waiting. Slowly some of the tension eased out of Lyserg's shoulders and his eyes quit darting about nervously.

"I made a mistake." He said quietly. Lukka huffed and Yoh shushed her gently. "I thought... I thought that destroying Hao would make everything alright, that the hurt would stop, but it hasn't and I feel... I feel disgusted with myself for taking a life, even though it was Hao's."

"You were never a killer, Lyserg, you never had the callousness for it." Yoh told him. "That's why it upset me so to see you with them, because I knew that you were just setting yourself up for more pain."

"He looked at me." Lyserg whispered. "Looked straight at me while Zeruel's blade was running him through and I thought that he would kill me but he just looked at me, and his eyes were sad and gentle, almost like he was saying sorry and forgiving me all at the same time."

"He was." Yoh said matter-of-factly. Lyserg gave him a confused look and Yoh smiled and tapped his head. "The Great Spirit is a part of me, as are all the spirits that make up the Great Spirit, and that includes Hao." Lyserg looked surprised and a little nervous at this. "He's been spending his time finding those that he hurt and apologizing to them."

"He's been what?" Lyserg asked, completely flabbergasted. Yoh nodded his head.

"You heard right." He said. "I know that it's hard for you to think of Hao as just another person as opposed to the monster you always believed he was, but understand that he was just as hurt, and just as angry as you are. He lost himself for a long while, and he was able to find himself again just in time to do something right before he died." Yoh paused and smiled wryly. "His words, not mine."

"It just seems so strange to think about Hao being... sorry, but yet, he just threw himself out in front of you like that..." Lyserg lapsed into silence again. "I'm not sure what to think anymore, not sure what's right and what's wrong."

"It's better that way. People who know for certain tend to do the worst things." Lukka replied. Lyserg gave her an odd look.

"Did you just quote Doctor Who?"

"Yes, I love Doctor Who, particularly David Tennant." Lukka answered. Lyserg stared at her carefully for a few moments before nodding at her and taking another sip from his tea. "David Tennant was the best I think as well, certainly better than the one they have now." He said thoughtfully. Lukka nodded in agreement and the two of them stared at each other as though seeing each other for the first time. Yoh smiled to himself, happy that the two of them had found something in common.

"I always told myself that if someone asked me to travel the stars with them I wouldn't hesitate." Lukka stated. "Any escape from the half-life I was living was good enough for me."

"What do you mean?" Lyserg asked.

"What exactly did Anna tell you about me?" Lukka asked.

"She told us that you were a failed attempt to get rid of Hao." Lyserg explained, looking slightly nervous.

"She would say that, the little bitch." Lukka muttered. "She can't stand that Yoh chose a lover over a slavedriver like her." She sighed and gazed at Lyserg softly. "I was a pariah. Viewed as both an angel and a demon for what I was. I never had any friends, I never got to do the things that other kids did, I didn't really have a proper childhood. I knew that the life I was living would only last as long as their need for me outweighed their fear, and the possibility of death always loomed over my mind."

"It was Hao's fault that you lived that way, didn't you know that?" Lyserg asked.

"I knew that, and for awhile I had a new reason to hate him besides the reasons I was taught." Lukka responded. "But I always wondered what truly made a monster, and whether or not if he was a monster then so was I? I didn't think he could be redeemed until I really started talking to Yoh, and watching the way he was able to break down Hao's defences."

"You truly believed that he had changed?" Lyserg reiterated.

"Lukka is as sceptical, and as cynical as they come, so to make her believe something that is complete opposite to anything she believed before is a daunting task." Silva interjected.

"Yoh has a talent for those sort of things though, doesn't he?" Lyserg whispered. "I feel like... like dirt. I feel like I've just been so messed up in the head, and not right, but it's not an excuse for the way I've been acting."

"You and Hao aren't that different, you know?" Yoh told him. Lyserg flinched and a touch of his old resentment touched his eyes. "Hear me out. You both lost someone so dear to you in such a terrible manner and it changed you, and affected you, and eventually it twisted you into something you're not, plunging you into a sort of madness and thirst for vengeance. The big difference is, I got to you before you started doing terrible things."

"I feel guilty." Lyserg whimpered. "I feel guilty for killing the man that destroyed my parents. It just feels so wrong."

"Problem is, you know you didn't just kill that man, you know you also killed the man that was my brother, and my friend, and someone who was cared about, and that's the man that you feel guilty about killing." Yoh explained gently. "You can't think of your opponent as human without feeling guilty about hurting them, because you could be them."

"I guess that makes sense." Lyserg sniffed.

"Do you want to know something else?" Yoh asked. Lyserg looked at him questioningly. "Your parents were the first ones Hao went and found to apologize to."

"Wha...? Seriously?" Lyserg stuttered.

"Would I lie about something like this to you, Lyserg?" Yoh replied. Lyserg shook his head.

"What do I do now?" He asked after a few moments of silence. "Going after Hao was everything to me and now I'm not sure what to do with myself."

"Join the club." Lukka groaned playfully. "At least I got something, or rather someone, to lean on." She leaned against Yoh to emphasize her point. "But I'm not sure where I see myself in the future, I'd always been uncertain that I would have a future, so I never really had any dreams."

"I dreamed of being a detective, once upon a time." Lyserg murmured.

"Well, there you go." Lukka said matter-of-factly. "You have something to strive for now."

"You make it sound so easy." Lyserg snuffled slightly, trying to hold back tears.

"Hey, dreams are only hard if you believe they are." Yoh declared. His boundless optimism brought smiles to every face in the room, just like it always had.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	31. Chapter 31

Wolf: I own nothing!

"So, I guess this is goodbye then?" Lyserg asked, shifting his bundle of belongings on his shoulder. There was no reason to remain in the Patch village now that the tournament was over, and so everyone was leaving. Yoh and the others still had some packing to do, but Lyserg was ready to go.

"Only for now." Yoh replied cheerfully. "We'll visit each other, right?" Lyserg smiled warmly.

"Of course." He turned to Lukka. "I'll have to bring the replica sonic screwdriver I have with me."

"You'd better." Lukka warned playfully. After they had discovered their shared love of Doctor Who they had grown easier around each other, though Lukka would likely never completely forgive him for killing Hao. Lyserg felt that this would help him remember that killing was not something to be proud of and accepted it.

"So, what are you going to do Yoh?" Lyserg asked.

"We're not sure yet." Yoh said slowly, his dark eyes blinking sleepily. "We have a couple ideas, but we still need to discuss."

"That 'we' business is still kind of odd." Lyserg stated. Yoh had been referring to himself in the plural for a few days, although it didn't seem to be conscious. "How are you and Lukka supposed to do anything with all those people in your head?"

"Well, they can go into a kind of sleep if I want them to, so they don't know what's going on." Yoh explained. "But it's not like we're doing anything that we don't really want them to be around for yet." He added with a blush.

"Oh, I see." Lyserg replied, blushing as well. He shifted his pack and bit his lip, clearly torn between wanting to go and wanting to stay. "I'll... I'll see you all soon, right?"

"Of course." Yoh said in that tone of voice that was even more binding than a promise. Lyserg's shoulders relaxed and he smiled before finally turning and leaving the valley. Lukka and Yoh watched him until he disappeared from sight and then Yoh slid a hand around Lukka's waist and the two of them headed back towards the village houses.

"You've been calling yourself 'we' more often, you know that?" Lukka said as they walked along.

"Have I?" Lukka nodded at him. "Hm, it's hard not to think of myself that way sometimes, but I am separate, it's just easier to say we when it's all of our ideas talking together. Does that make sense?"

"Sort of." Lukka replied, wrinkling her nose. "You'd better be able to switch them off when we start getting intimate."

"Don't worry about it." Yoh said, smiling easily. "I would never do anything that made you uncomfortable, that's your job." Lukka chuckled and squeezed his ass cheek in reply, making him jump and blush. Lukka then rested her head on Yoh's shoulder, planting a soft kiss on the junction between his neck and his shoulder.

"I've a feeling that your family is going to start pestering about kids soon." Lukka stated calmly.

"Is that a feeling, or a fact?" Yoh asked, glancing at her sideways. She shrugged her shoulders in answer.

"Even your grandfather is starting to get over himself a little, but I suppose that's you becoming Shaman King and Hao dying that's helped that." She added sarcastically.

"Some people will not be changed." Yoh merely replied. "Though he'd be fool to try and bend us to his will."

"Is that the you and me us, or the you and you us?" Lukka asked wryly.

"Both." Yoh smiled at her again. "Incidentally, what do you think of kids anyways?"

"I'd like to wait before having any, but I'm not against it." Lukka replied. "I think you'd make a wonderful father." Yoh grinned and ducked his head, trying to hide the blush that rose to his face. The blush only deepened as he cocked his head, appearing to listen to someone else. Lukka rolled her eyes, knowing it was Hao who was talking, and that he was suggesting some very lewd things. Hao had proved to have quite the sense of humour since becoming part of the Great Spirit and Yoh.

The few Patch Officials in town eyed her nervously, but since she was in the company of the Shaman King, his girlfriend no less, there wasn't anything they dared do to her. It was a pity, she thought, that if they had treated her like one of them she might have turned out differently, but then again, she might have killed Hao if that were the case. Fate worked in mysterious ways.

"What are you thinking?" Yoh asked, cutting through her musing thoughts.

"I was just thinking of thanking Fate for the way I turned out, because any other way and none of this would have ever happened." She replied. He smiled and kissed her nose lightly.

"Have you given any thought of what you want to be doing when we go back home?" He asked.

"Well, have you ever heard of the shopkeepers the supernaturals use?" She asked him.

"Yes, I know what they are."

"I've been thinking I could seek out the one in Tokyo and apprentice myself to them. I could learn a lot and I'd be helping out." Lukka explained. "Maybe I could even learn more about the one they call the Ageless."

"Who's that?"

"I don't know, but there's all these legends surrounding them and they say she's still around."

"Hmm." Yoh said in reply. "Hao knows about that one too, thinks he met her a couple times now that he thinks about it. Can't remember much about the encounters though for some reason."

As they found themselves nearing the house, Kalim came trotting up, looking somewhat edgy. "Er, you haven't seen your brother today, have you?" He asked Lukka, playing nervously with the edge of his cloak.

"Yoh and I have been out, so no I haven't, and quit acting like I'm going to bite you or something." She snapped, annoyed by his jumpiness. Kalim flinched, but had the decency to look shame-faced.

"I'm sure that Silva's at the house." Yoh said, trying to ease the tension. "You can come along if you'd like to talk with him." Kalim hesitated a moment and then nodded, falling in step a few feet behind them.

Silva was sitting on the front stoop, whittling at a small piece of wood while talking with his spirits. He waved when he saw them approach and dusted shavings off his legs. "Kalim, didn't expect to see you here."

"I came to ask if it was true that you were going to be leaving." Kalim explained.

"Did they send you to ask?" Silva relaxed when Kalim shook his head. "I am leaving my friend, there's nothing for me here anymore."

"I'm sure they'd let you come back..." Kalim trailed off as Silva shook his head slowly.

"I can't live with that anymore. I can't forget what they tried to do, what I almost allowed them to do, to my little sister." Kalim turned and looked at Lukka. Lukka's lip curled up in a challenging snarl, but Kalim merely sighed and looked slightly despondent.

"I suppose I could come visit, I mean Horohoro will probably spend a lot of time there, and it's always good to check up on the participants, right?"

"Right." Silva chuckled. He stood up and came down the steps, clapping Kalim on the shoulder.

"We'll see you around then." Kalim's look brightened a little and he clapped a hand on Silva's shoulder as well. As he turned to go he hesitated when meeting Lukka's eyes. He slowly extended his hand, holding it out to her. She stared at it in surprise and bewilderment before slowly reaching out and clasping her hand in his.

"I wish..." Kalim trailed off, not quite sure how to say what he should say. Lukka merely smiled at him and let go of his hand.

"I know." She replied and headed into the house with Yoh. There were things to be done, and then they would be going home, and starting a new life.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	32. Chapter 32

Wolf: I own nothing!

In the end...

"_So, do you think we did well?" Hao looked at Yoh critically, and then enveloped him in a hug, the first true hug they had shared in 70 years. _

"_You did do well." He said honestly. Yoh's smile lit up his face and the years fell away from him until he was no longer the old man who had just now died, but the 16 year old that had started on this journey. "Do you think it will last, though?" Hao asked. "You're not there anymore."_

"_But my children, and grandchildren are, and they and their children will help keep the world on course." Yoh replied. "Er, speaking of children, is she here?" Hao smiled, knowing exactly who his brother was talking about._

"_She's here, and she's been waiting." From across the field of gently waving grasses and flowers came a familiar figure. Wind teased Lukka's long dark hair as she opened her arms to her lover and husband of so many wonderful years. Yoh fell into them eagerly; Lukka had passed on nearly three years ago, and he had missed her dearly. _

"_Oh, how I've missed you, my lover." Lukka breathed. "Though being inside your head with all the rest of these hooligans has been amusing." Yoh chuckled and kissed her soundly. _

"_Where are we exactly?" Yoh asked, looking around again at the peaceful fields._

"_You'll see." Hao replied with a mysterious, mischievous smile. Yoh could only sigh and follow after his brother and wife as they walked away across the field again. In time they came to a small, humble abode in the style of the Heian period. Yoh started to suspect he knew where they were, and his suspicions were confirmed by the appearance of a woman in her mid to late twenties, tall, with long blonde hair and warm golden eyes. _

"_Asaha!" She called, a smile spreading over her face. "Where have you been?" _

"_I was meeting my brother, kaa-san." Hao answered, striding up to her and allowing her to hug him. "I didn't want him getting lost." She turned and smiled at Yoh, bowing to him slightly._

"_It's good to finally meet you in person, Asanoha-san." Yoh said, bowing back._

"_None of that formal business, you are family." Asanoha chuckled. "And I have you to thank for bringing my son back to me." _

"_It was nothing." Yoh replied, blushing slightly._

"_He said you were humble." Asanoha mused, stroking Hao's hair absentmindedly. Hao leaned into the touch, a look of such peace on his face. _

"_So, this is your Heaven?" Yoh asked. Hao nodded his head. _

"_It can also be yours." He said. "Everyone else is here as well." Yoh's face lit up and as he looked around more figures emerged from the house and from the fields. He smiled as all the friends and family he had lost to death over the years came to greet him. There were some notable absences, Lyserg and Horohoro were still alive, as was Opacho and Macchi and a few others they had met over the years. _

_All of Yoh's companions greeted him with warm enthusiasm as his grin grew until it looked like it would split his face. He was home again, where he belonged, and wasn't that what Heaven was supposed to be, the place where you feel at peace? Yoh thought so, and by the looks on everyone's faces, they thought that this was the perfect place to spend eternity. _

"_Almost four hundred years now, to watch and wait for the next Shaman King." Asanoha mused. _

"_Do you think things will be alright until then?" Hao asked Yoh._

"_I believe in humanity, and I believe in our children, whom we taught so well, to guard and teach the world." Yoh replied. "Besides, we can always sway the next Shaman King to our vision if things go awry. But now, now is the time for us to rest."_

"_Yes, otouto, we've earned it." Hao agreed. _

_It had been a good life, and now was the time to reap the rewards, and spend eternity with the ones they loved. _

**THE END**


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